Methods and systems for controlling vehicle body motion and occupant experience

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, one or more suspension systems of a vehicle may be used to mitigate motion sickness by limiting motion in one or more frequency ranges. In another embodiment, an active suspension may be integrated with an autonomous vehicle architecture. In yet another embodiment, the active suspension system of a vehicle may be used to induce motion in a vehicle. The vehicle may be used as a testbed for technical investigations and/or as a platform to enhance the enjoyment of video and/or audio by vehicle occupants. In some embodiments, the active suspensions system may be used to perform gestures as a means of communication with persons inside or outside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the active suspensions system may be used to generate haptic warnings to a vehicle operator or other persons in response to certain road situations.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/522,910, filed Jul. 26, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/833,738, filed on Dec. 6, 2017, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/303,395, filed on Oct. 11,2016, which is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 ofInternational Application Number PCT/US2016/035926 filed Jun. 3, 2016,which claims the benefit of priority under U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application 62/170,674, filed Jun. 3, 2015, U.S. ProvisionalApplication 62/182,420, filed Jun. 19, 2015, U.S. ProvisionalApplication 62/192,051, filed Jul. 13, 2015, U.S. ProvisionalApplication 62/296,325, filed Feb. 17, 2016, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication 62/304,901, filed Mar. 7, 2016, the disclosures of each ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Disclosed embodiments are related to methods and systems for controllingvehicle body motion and occupant experience.

BACKGROUND

Autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionize transportationbecause, for example, they offer the opportunity for flexiblepersonalized transportation with expectations for significant increasesin occupant safety due to the elimination of “driver error.” Autonomousvehicles can be both personal and shared, as well as deliver increasedfuel economy. However, occupants of autonomous and semi-autonomous, aswell as conventionally driven vehicles, may experience motion sicknessdue to, for example, the inability to anticipate motion, a lack ofcontrol over the direction of movement, and/or exposure to specificpatterns and frequencies of movement. Further, use of autonomous andsemi-autonomous vehicles is expected to lead to an increase in thefrequency and severity of motion sickness experienced by the travelingpublic on a daily basis. One reason why this is expected is becauseoccupants of such vehicles will be further isolated and removed from thedecision making process that determines the vehicle's route and how itis traveled. Additionally, while people are generally able to adapt toconditions that can cause motion sickness, there are large differencesin the rates and degree of adaptability among individuals which may beeffected by conditions, such as sleep deprivation, that may make aperson more susceptible to motion sickness.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method of mitigating motion sickness in a vehicleincludes: mitigating motion of at least a portion of the vehicle withina first frequency range by a first degree during a first mode ofoperation; detecting an event indicating an increased likelihood ofmotion sickness of at least one occupant of the vehicle; and mitigatingmotion of the portion of the vehicle body within the first frequencyrange by a second degree different than the first degree during a secondmode of operation.

In another embodiment, a vehicle includes an active suspension systemand an active suspension system controller in electrical indication withthe active suspension system. The vehicle also includes at least onesensor or an input in electrical communication with the controller,where the controller detects an increased likelihood of motion sicknessof an occupant of the vehicle using information from the at least onesensor or input. Further, the controller operates the active suspensionsystem to mitigate motion in a first frequency range to a greater degreewhen an increased likelihood of motion sickness of the occupant has beendetected.

In yet another embodiment, a method of operating an active suspensionsystem of a vehicle includes: detecting movement of a vehicle chassiswithin a first frequency range with a first magnitude; and operating theactive suspension system of the to induce motion in the vehicle chassiswithin a second frequency range with a second magnitude.

In another embodiment, a method of reducing motion within a vehicleincludes: operating a first suspension system associated with a firstportion of the vehicle first portion of the vehicle to reduce motion ofthe first portion of the vehicle in at least a first range offrequencies; and operating a second suspension system located betweenfirst portion of the vehicle and the second portion of the vehicle toreduce motion of the second portion of the vehicle in at least a secondrange of frequencies, wherein at least a portion of the second range offrequencies is different from the first range of frequencies.

In yet another embodiment, a method of reducing a motion of at least afirst portion of a vehicle includes: detecting a first force applied tothe first portion of a vehicle; and moving a mass associated with thefirst portion of the vehicle to apply a second force to the firstportion of the vehicle in a direction that opposes the first force.

In another embodiment, a method of operating a vehicle includes:detecting a situation; and inducing movement in at least a portion ofthe vehicle to alert a vehicle occupant to the situation.

In another embodiment, a method of mitigating motion sickness in amoving autonomous vehicle includes: operating the autonomous vehicle ona road; and operating an active suspension system of the autonomousvehicle to induce a motion to the autonomous vehicle to inform at leastone occupant of the vehicle that a maneuver of the autonomous vehiclewill occur prior to performing the maneuver.

In yet another embodiment, a vehicle includes an active suspensionsystem that includes at least one actuator and a vehicle control systemthat selectively operates the vehicle in one of an autonomous state anda conventionally driven state. Further, the active suspension system isoperated in a first mode when the vehicle is operated in the autonomousstate and in a second mode when the vehicle is in a conventionallydriven state.

In another embodiment, a method for operating a vehicle includes:operating the vehicle in an autonomous state; operating an activesuspension system of the vehicle in a first mode when the vehicle isoperated in the autonomous state; operating the vehicle in aconventionally driven state; and operating the active suspension systemof the vehicle in a second mode when the vehicle is operated in theconventionally driven state.

In yet another embodiment, a method of mitigating motion sicknessincludes: displaying an image on a display; detecting movements of thedisplay with frequencies greater than a threshold frequency; and movingthe image within the display based at least partially on the detectedmovements with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency.

In another embodiment, a method of operating a vehicle that includes anactive suspension system includes: playing at least one of video andaudio within the vehicle; and operating at least one actuator of theactive suspension system to induce motion in at least a portion of thevehicle, wherein at least one aspect of the induced motion issynchronized with at least one aspect of the video and/or the audio.

In yet another embodiment, a human-machine interface for a vehiclesuspension system includes at least one vehicle sensor that sensesinformation related to at least one aspect of an interaction of thesuspension system with a road surface. An suspension system controlleris in electrical communication with the suspension system. Further, adisplay displays information about the at least one aspect of theinteraction of the suspension with the road surface based on at leastone of the sensed information and suspension status information from thesuspension system controller.

In another embodiment, a method for determining wheel imbalance on amoving vehicle includes: averaging a centripetal force of a wheel of themoving vehicle in a first direction over a predetermined period of time;determining an angular orientation of the wheel corresponding to amaximum measured centripetal force of the wheel; and updating a wheelimbalance status of the wheel within a vehicle database based on thedetermined angular orientation and maximum measured centripetal force ofthe wheel.

In yet another embodiment, a diagnostics method for a vehicle with anactive suspension system includes: using an active suspension system toinduce a predetermined motion in at least a portion of the vehicle;measuring the response of at least the portion of the vehicle with asensor; comparing the measured response with a predetermined expectedresponse of the vehicle; and updating a status of at least one componentof the vehicle within a vehicle database based on the comparison.

In another embodiment, a high precision hybrid road mapping system forvehicles, includes a database containing low granularity large scalepositioning data and a high granularity localized positioning data thatincludes information about the relative spacing of road featurescollected. The localized positioning data may be at least partiallycollected from on the road vehicles. Further, the accuracy of the largescale positioning data may be improved by incorporating the relativeposition information of the localized positioning data.

In yet another embodiment, a method of operating a vehicle activesuspension system as an audio enhancer includes: receiving an audiosignal; filtering the audio signal with a filter; providing the filteredsignal from the filter to an active suspension controller; and operatingat least one active suspension actuator with the active suspensioncontroller to induce low frequency vibrations in a least a portion ofthe vehicle body, wherein the induced vibrations are a function of thefiltered audio signal.

In another embodiment, a method of operating an active suspension systemincludes: operating an active suspension actuator to replicate aforce/velocity curve of a passive automotive damper.

In yet another embodiment, a method of operating an active suspensionsystem of a vehicle includes: recording active suspension settingsselected by an occupant of the vehicle; obtaining identifyinginformation about the occupant; correlating the active suspension systemsetting with the occupant's identifying information; and storing thecorrelated data in a vehicle database.

In another embodiment, a method of operating an active suspension systemin a parked vehicle includes: using an active suspension system to moveat least one portion of the vehicle body of a parked vehicle; and movingthe at least one portion of the vehicle body in a predefined pattern ofmotion.

In yet another embodiment, an active suspension system includes at leastone actuator capable of providing a force between a wheel and a vehiclechassis and a controller that commands force from the at least oneactuator. The system also includes an input operatively connected to anaudio signal and at least one sensor that senses at least one of a road,wheel, and chassis motion. The controller force command is a function ofboth the audio signal and the at least one sensor.

It should be appreciated that the foregoing concepts, and additionalconcepts discussed below, may be arranged in any suitable combination,as the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. Further, otheradvantages and novel features of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of various non-limitingembodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures.

In cases where the present specification and a document incorporated byreference include conflicting and/or inconsistent disclosure, thepresent specification shall control. If two or more documentsincorporated by reference include conflicting and/or inconsistentdisclosure with respect to each other, then the document having thelater effective date shall control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In thedrawings, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in the various figures may be represented by a like numeral.For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a transmissibility plot showing the ratio of vehicle body(sprung mass) acceleration and road vertical acceleration normal to theroad {umlaut over (Z)}_(b)/{umlaut over (Z)}_(r) as a function offrequency;

FIG. 3 is a graph of power spectrum for a vehicle body (sprung mass) asa function of frequency;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of an undulation in a road surfacewith a wavelength L;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of masking low frequencyaccelerations by inducing higher frequency accelerations;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustrating variable pitch induced by stop-and-godriving;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustrating the use of an active suspensionsystem to mitigate changes of pitch such as by stop and go driving;

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of an active suspension system usedto mitigate low frequency oscillations of a first platform (such as apassenger seat) that is supported by a second platform (such as thesprung mass of a vehicle), where the high frequency motions of thesecond platform are shown to be mitigated by an active suspensionsystem;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of an active suspension actuator ina watercraft to mitigate oscillations from reaching an occupant;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a control system for a vehicle for motionsickness mitigation;

FIG. 11 is a schematic flow chart illustrating one embodiment of amotion sickness detection system;

FIG. 12 is a schematic of an embodiment that illustrates the relativepositioning of the battery of an electric car, the chassis or(undercarriage), and the passenger compartment or cab;

FIG. 13 is a schematic of an embodiment that illustrates an alternativerelative position of the battery with respect to the chassis (orundercarriage) and the passenger compartment or cab;

FIG. 14 is a schematic of an embodiment that illustrates the relativepositioning of the battery with respect to the chassis (orundercarriage) and the passenger compartment or cab where a unit, in thepassenger compartment, such as a chair and/or work surface is allowed tofloat relative to the passenger compartment or cab using an activesuspension system;

FIG. 15 is a schematic of an embodiment that illustrates the relativepositioning of the battery with respect to the chassis (orundercarriage) and the passenger compartment or cab where the passengercompartment or cab is allowed to float relative to an assemblycontaining the battery and the chassis (or undercarriage);

FIG. 16 is a schematic of an embodiment that illustrates the relativepositioning of the battery with respect to the chassis (orundercarriage) and the passenger compartment or cab where the passengercompartment or cab is allowed to float relative to the chassis (orundercarriage) and the battery is suspended from the passengercompartment;

FIG. 17 is a schematic of an embodiment which illustrates where thechassis (or undercarriage) is supported by a suspension system, wherethe passenger compartment is fixedly attached to the chassis (orundercarriage), and where separate masses are suspended from the chassisor undercarriage;

FIG. 18 is a schematic of an embodiment including a battery attached tothe chassis and where the passenger compartment or cab floats withrespect to the chassis (or undercarriage) in the vertical direction, butis constrained in at least one lateral direction;

FIG. 19 illustrates the constraining mechanism of the embodiment in FIG.18 ;

FIG. 20 is a schematic of another embodiment that illustrates that thebattery is attached to the chassis and the passenger compartment or thecab floats with respect to the chassis (or undercarriage) in thevertical direction, but is constrained in at least one lateraldirection;

FIG. 21 illustrates the constraining mechanism of the embodiment in FIG.20 ;

FIG. 22 is a schematic of still another embodiment that illustrates thatthe battery is attached to the chassis and that the passengercompartment or cab floats with respect to the chassis or undercarriagein the vertical direction, but is constrained in at least one lateraldirection;

FIG. 23 is schematic representation of an embodiment of a systemincluding multiple suspension systems;

FIG. 24 is schematic representation of an embodiment of a systemincluding a hexapod mechanism;

FIG. 25 is schematic representation of an embodiment of a systemincluding an isolated seat and work surface;

FIG. 26 is schematic representation of an embodiment of a system thatuses one or more vehicle movements to indicate upcoming maneuvers;

FIGS. 27A-27D are a series of schematics of an active suspension systembeing used to “shake” off snow from a vehicle;

FIG. 28 is a schematic representation of a vehicle, a person, and ananimal in close proximity to a vehicle that uses an active suspensionsystem to induce motion in the vehicle body;

FIG. 29 is a schematic representation of an electric vehicle equippedwith inductive recharging coils and an active suspension system;

FIG. 30 is a schematic representation of a display moving an image tocompensate image position for an occupant's visual ocular reflex;

FIG. 31 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a vehiclepreparing for an imminent crash;

FIG. 32 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a systemcapable of conducting road data collection, pre-filtering, and replay;

FIG. 33 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a controller reacting to“road input” during playback;

FIG. 34 compares graphs of mitigated and unmitigated frequency spectrumof motion;

FIG. 35 is a schematic representation of a vehicle seat that includes avideo display;

FIG. 36 illustrates the seat of FIG. 35 after the position of thevehicle has been altered in response to what is being shown on the videodisplay;

FIG. 37 illustrates an embodiment of a location tagged database thatencompasses various road, vehicle, and user data;

FIG. 38 illustrates a block diagram showing information exchange betweena location tagged database and various data sources;

FIG. 39 is a schematic showing sensors associated with a vehicle forcollecting information related to road inputs and vehicle occupants;

FIG. 40 illustrates a block diagram of an active suspension controlsystem that receives information from low and high resolution sources;

FIG. 41 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle thatcollects and exchanges information with a database;

FIG. 42 illustrates the improved capacity of an autonomous vehicle toavoid road obstructions based on proximal map information;

FIG. 43 depicts an audio enhancement system for use in a vehicle usingan active suspension system to simulate a high energy subwoofer;

FIG. 44 illustrates a block diagram of a vehicle working in coordinationwith a virtual reality device;

FIG. 45 depicts a force/velocity plot of an active suspension actuator;

FIG. 46 depicts a force/velocity plot of a passive automotive damper;and

FIG. 47 depicts a block diagram showing the interaction between ahuman-machine interface, a user, and an active suspension system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Due to the expected increase in use of autonomous and semi-autonomousvehicles, the Inventors have recognized that it may be beneficial toprovide systems and methods for reducing the likelihood of motionsickness in occupants of a vehicle. In view of the above, the Inventorshave recognized the benefits associated with mitigating, or otherwisereducing, motion of one or more portions of a vehicle for one or morefrequency ranges. Additionally, in some embodiments, this reduction inmovement of the vehicle may be done in response to one or moresituations indicating an increased chance of motion sickness for anoccupant of the vehicle. Alternatively, the methods and systemsdescribed herein may be implemented preemptively to reduce, and/orpossibly prevent, situations that may lead to motion sickness of avehicle occupant. Therefore, some of the embodiments discussed hereinare generally related to systems and methods used to control the motionof one or more portions of a vehicle under various circumstances toenhance the in-vehicle experience of vehicle occupants. However, otherembodiments described herein are related to a more enjoyable and/oreffective human machine interfaces.

Depending on the particular embodiment, various systems of a vehicle maybe operated to reduce, or eliminate, motion transmitted to a particularportion of the vehicle and/or a vehicle occupant. Systems that may becontrolled include, but are not limited to, suspension systemsassociated with various portions of a vehicle such as a vehicle body, apassenger compartment, and/or structures located within the passengercompartment as well as a throttle, braking, and/or steering controls ofan autonomous, semi-autonomous and/or conventionally driven vehicle.Accordingly, one or more of these systems may be operated to avoidcertain predefined, deduced, detected, or vehicle occupant identifiedmotions or operating regimes that induce passenger discomfort, such asfor example, motion sickness or fatigue as described further below.

Typically, designers have recognized that there is a higher likelihoodof experiencing motion sickness symptoms, including nausea anddizziness, if a person, or a vehicle with an occupant inside, is exposedto lateral disturbances and/or vertical oscillations at low frequenciesbetween about 0.05 Hz-0.5 Hz. However, the inventors have determinedthat motion sickness may also occur due to motions in various directionssuch as heave, pitch, and/or roll at higher frequencies such as, forexample, in the range of 0.5 Hz-10 Hz. Further, a person's sensitivityto motions within this frequency range may be exacerbated if they areperforming certain tasks such as reading, watching a video, playing avideo game, or other activities in an environment where they are atleast partially decoupled from controlling or otherwise being aware ofthe movement of their immediate environment as might occur in a vehicle.Consequently, one or more suspension systems, or movement mitigationdevices, associated with one or more portions of a vehicle may beoperated in order to mitigate motion to a vehicle occupant within eitherone, or both, of these frequency ranges to a greater degree in one ormore modes of operation than is typically done in a vehicle.

In some embodiments, one or more suspension systems of a vehicle may beused to suppress motions, such as for example, heave, pitch, and/orroll, for one or more structures in a vehicle including a vehicle body(e.g. the chassis or frame), passenger compartment, structures withinthe passenger compartment (e.g. seats and works surfaces), and/or anyother appropriate portion of the vehicle. Additionally, the one or moresuspension systems may be operated to further reduce motions in one ormore predetermined frequency ranges associated with motion sicknessduring at least one mode of operation, such as when it is desired toreduce the likelihood of motion sickness. In one embodiment, frequenciesthat may be associated with motion sickness include frequencies betweenabout 0.05 Hz and 10 Hz. Further, the one or more active suspensionsystems may either operate over this entire range, or one or more subranges of this frequency range as the disclosure is not so limited. Forexample, a suspension system may mitigate motion at frequencies greaterthan or equal to about 0.05 Hz, 0.1 Hz, 0.2 Hz, 0.5 Hz, 1 Hz, 2 Hz, orany other appropriate frequency when it is desired to reduce motionswith frequencies associated with motion sickness. Correspondingly, asuspension system may mitigate motion at frequencies less than or equalto about 10 Hz, 9 Hz, 8 Hz, 7 Hz, 6 Hz, 5 Hz, 1 Hz, or any otherappropriate frequency when it is desired to reduce motions withfrequencies associated with motion sickness. Combinations of the aboveranges are contemplated including, for example, frequency ranges betweenor equal to about 0.05 Hz and 10 Hz, 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, 0.5 Hz and 10 Hz,1 Hz and 10 Hz, 2 Hz and 6 Hz, and/or any other appropriate combinationas the disclosure is not so limited. Mitigation of motion at aparticular frequency means that motion is mitigated in any frequencyrange that includes that particular frequency. Also, mitigating motionin a particular frequency range does not necessarily indicate thatmotion is mitigated uniformly throughout that range or even at eachfrequency in that range.

In the above noted embodiment, motions within such frequency ranges maybe suppressed at certain times, and/or to varying degrees, depending onwhether the vehicle is in an autonomous mode or in a conventionallydriven mode and/or depending on input from one or more sources, such asfor example, sensors and/or commands or signals from one or more vehicleoccupants. Additionally, the one or more suspension systems associatedwith the vehicle may be any of a passive suspension system, asemi-active suspension system, an active suspension system, and/or acombination of the foregoing as the disclosure is not so limited.

The Inventors have recognized that in certain situations, such as forexample, from an energy conservation and vehicle performanceperspective, it may not be desirable to always provide enhanced motionmitigation within a particular frequency range. Instead, a vehicle maybe operated in a first mode of operation until an event, series ofevents and/or pattern of events, that indicates an increased likelihoodof motion sickness of a vehicle occupant, is detected. The vehicle maythen be operated in a second mode that provides enhanced mitigation ofmotion in one or more frequency ranges to help reduce the likelihood,severity and/or duration of an occupant's motion sickness. In one suchexemplary embodiment, a vehicle may include a suspension system, such asan active suspension system, or other appropriate motion mitigationdevice, that is used to reduce the transmission of movement to eitherthe vehicle body, or other portion of the vehicle. In the first mode ofoperation, the suspension system is operated to mitigate motion to aportion of the vehicle within a first frequency range by a first-degree.After detecting the event, series of events and/or pattern of events,associated with an increased likelihood of motion sickness symptoms, thesuspension system is operated in the second mode such that it providesincreased mitigation of motion within the first frequency range to theportion of the vehicle than during the first mode of operation. Once thesituation associated with an increased likelihood of motion sickness isover, or after a desired delay, the vehicle may be operated in a thirdmode of operation, which in some instances may be the same as the firstmode. Consequently, in some embodiments, enhanced motion sicknessmediation may be provided when needed and the vehicle may be operated ina lower power and/or more efficient mode and/or higher vehicleperformance mode during other time periods.

As detailed further below, an event, or events, associated with anincreased likelihood of motion sickness of a vehicle occupant may bedetermined in any number of ways. For example, in one embodiment, theevent or events may be determined at least in part using informationsuch as forces and/or accelerations applied to the vehicle as determinedby one or more sensors associated with an active suspension system.Additionally, in some embodiments, an event, or events, may bedetermined at least in part using information such as forces and/oraccelerations applied to an occupants head and/or torso based onmeasurements and or predetermined transfer functions that relate vehiclemotion to the motion of an occupants head and/or torso.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the information used to determinethe likelihood of motion sickness may be based at least partially onfeedback from a vehicle occupant. For example, a vehicle occupant mayuse a push-button, dial, touchpad, smart phone, tablet, or other mobilecomputing device with a computer app to communicate their level ofdiscomfort to a controller of the active suspension system. In one suchembodiment, the occupant may report a level of motion sickness between alower and upper portion of a scale such as between 0-10 where a score of0 is indicative of no symptoms and a score of 10 is indicative ofimminent vomiting. In yet another embodiment, information about thelikelihood of motion sickness may be based on data collected by sensorsthat are located within the vehicle. These may correspond to sensorsintegrated with the vehicle such as cameras or physiological sensorsincorporated into portions of the vehicle that the occupants interactwith such as the steering wheel, portions of a chair, or otherappropriate portions of the vehicle. Additionally, the sensors may beintegrated into devices that are worn or carried by a vehicle occupant,such as a wristband. In either case, the physiological sensors may beused to measures parameters such as body temperature, heart rate, howmuch the vehicle occupant is perspiring, ocular reflexes and otherappropriate parameters associated with motion sickness.

As noted above, the Inventors have recognized that mitigating motions ofa vehicle such as heave, pitch and/or roll over the frequency range 0.05Hz to 10 Hz range, or over a sub-portion of that range, may reducemotion sickness in a significant portion of the population. Thismitigation may be achieved by using a suspension system of a vehicle,such as a passive damping system, a semi-active suspension system,and/or an active suspension system. For example, one or more actuatorsof an active suspension system may be used to apply forces and reducemotion in one or more portions of the vehicle to counteract road inducedforces applied to the vehicle body. Further, in some embodiments,additional suspension systems, motion mitigation devices, and/or passivedamping techniques may be used to further reduce motions transmitted toa particular section of the vehicle such as a chair, passengercompartment and/or cab. Additionally, these different suspension systemsand devices may either all operate within these noted frequency rangesand/or they may operate over only a portion of these frequency ranges asthe disclosure is not so limited. For example, a primary suspensionsystem of a vehicle may primarily mitigate motions at higher frequencieswhile the secondary suspension system associated with a sub-portion ofthe vehicle may primarily mitigate motions at lower frequencies asdescribed further below.

In addition to mitigating motion, the Inventors have recognized thebenefits associated with providing cues to vehicle occupants either toindicate specific situations and/or an expected maneuver of the vehicle.These cues may help enhance situational awareness of the vehicleoccupants and/or help mitigate motion sickness. Consequently, in oneembodiment, an active suspension system of a vehicle may be used toinduce motion in one or more portions of a vehicle to indicate anexpected vehicle maneuver such as a turn, acceleration, deceleration,and/or any other appropriate vehicle maneuver prior to it occurring. Inanother embodiment, a vehicle may detect a situation such as an imminentcollision, a vehicle driving past lane markings on a road surface, anuneven load distribution, and/or an overload condition. An activesuspension system of vehicle may then be used to induce motion in atleast a portion of the vehicle to alert a vehicle occupant to thesituation. Of course, it should be understood that any number ofdifferent types of motions may be used as a cue to indicate a particularsituation or maneuver. For example, roll, pitch, heave, vibration of oneor more wheels, a combination of the foregoing, and/or any otherappropriate type of vehicle motion may be used to indicate a particulartype of situation and/or vehicle maneuver as the disclosure is not solimited.

It should be understood that while many of the embodiments describedherein are detailed relative to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles,the currently disclosed systems and methods for mitigating motionsickness and/or motion of a vehicle are not limited to use on autonomousand semi-autonomous vehicles. Instead, the described systems and methodsmay be implemented in any appropriate vehicle including conventionallydriven vehicles as the disclosure is not so limited. Additionally, themethods and systems described herein may be used with autonomous,semi-autonomous, and/or conventionally driven vehicles that are poweredwith electric, hybrid, and/or internal combustion power plants. Further,depending on the particular embodiment, the vehicles may be equippedwith either a passive suspension system, a semi-active suspensionsystem, an active suspension system, or a combination of any of theforgoing as the methods and systems described herein are not limited inthis fashion.

For the purposes of this disclosure, autonomous vehicles andself-driving vehicles may be understood to include at least any vehiclethat executes combined function automation (NHTSA Level 2), limitedself-driving automation (NHTSA Level 3), and/or full self-drivingautomation (NHTSA Level 4).

Turning now to the figures, certain exemplary embodiments are describedfurther below to provide an overall understanding of the principles ofthe structure, function, manufacture, and use of the systems and methodsdisclosed herein. However, the systems, methods, and examples describedherein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limitingexemplary embodiments and that the scope of the present disclosure isnot limited to only the depicted embodiments. Instead, the featuresillustrated or described in connection with the various embodiments maybe combined with features of other embodiments either individuallyand/or in various combinations. Such modifications are intended to beincluded within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a vehicle 2 including a first suspensionsystem 4 that may be used with the various methods and vehicle systemsdescribed herein. In the figure, the various dampers and/or actuators ofthe suspension system are disposed between the associated wheel or wheelassembly and vehicle body of vehicle. Further, each damper and/oractuator is capable of controlling the relative movement of at least aportion of the vehicle body 12 and the associated wheel 6 independently.Additionally, in some embodiments, the actuators and/or dampers of asuspension system may be used with various types of springs such as, forexample, coil springs and/or air springs disposed between the associatedportions of a vehicle in parallel or in series with respect to theactuators.

While a specific suspension system has been shown in the figure, anyappropriate suspension system may be used. For example, conventionalsuspension systems typically use passive dampers that apply resistiveforces to oppose compression and/or extension of the damper usinglargely constant operating and performance parameters. Additionally,some suspension systems are semi-active in that their overall responsecan be adjusted, for example, to offer a trade-off between occupantcomfort and vehicle handling. Fully active suspension systems useactuators to react automatically to changing road conditions by relyingon input from sensors and other devices. Therefore, an active damper,suspension system, actuator or other similar device may be used to applya force in a compression and/or extension direction during a compressionand/or extension stroke respectfully. Additionally, an active suspensionsystem may also be used to apply resistive forces during some modes ofoperation. Therefore, in some embodiments, an active suspension system,or a sub-portion thereof, may operate in at least three of fourquadrants of a force velocity diagram.

As also shown in FIG. 1 , in some embodiments, a vehicle 2 may alsoinclude a second suspension system 16 associated with a second portionof the vehicle 14. In the depicted embodiment, the second portion ofvehicle corresponds to a seat in which an occupant may be seated.However, embodiments in which the second portion of the vehiclecorresponds to, for example, a passenger compartment, a cab, a loadingcompartment or any other appropriate portion of a vehicle are alsocontemplated as the disclosure is not so limited. As described in moredetail below, the first suspension system may be used to mitigate motionof the vehicle body within one or more frequency ranges. The secondsuspension system may then be used concurrently to mitigate motiontransferred to a second portion of the vehicle within one or morefrequency ranges as well. While any appropriate kinematic characteristicmay be used for either suspension system, in some embodiments, the firstsuspension system may reduce motion to a greater extent than the secondsuspension system in at least a first frequency range. Similarly, thesecond suspension system may reduce motion to a greater extent than thefirst suspension in at least a second range. For example, the firstfrequency range includes higher frequencies than the second frequencyrange which may offer a benefit of reduced power consumption as detailedfurther below.

While a vehicle including two suspension systems associated withdifferent portions of the vehicle has been depicted above, embodimentsin which a different number of suspension systems and/or a differentnumber of portions of the vehicle associated with those suspensionsystems are also contemplated. For example, in one embodiment, a vehiclemay simply include a primary suspension system located between thevehicle body and the wheels. Alternatively, in yet another embodiment, avehicle may include a primary suspension system located between thevehicle and the wheels or wheel assemblies as well as a plurality ofsecondary suspension systems associated with separate portions of thevehicle. For example, a second suspension system may be associated witha passenger compartment and a third suspension system may be locatedbetween an occupant seat and the passenger compartment it is locatedwithin.

It should be understood that the active suspension systems depicted inthe figures, and described throughout this application, may include anynumber of different types of actuators. Examples of such actuators mayinclude electro-hydraulic, electromagnetic and electro-mechanicalactuators. Electro-hydraulic actuators typically use a hydraulic pump,driven by an electric motor, to apply a desired force on an actuatorpiston. U.S. Pat. No. 8,839,920 entitled “Hydraulic Energy Transfer,”filed Aug. 3, 2009, U.S. Pat. No. 9,035,477 entitled “Integrated EnergyGenerating Damper,” filed Mar. 11, 2013, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/212,359, entitled “Integrated Active Suspension Smart Valve,”filed Mar. 14, 2014, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/602,463entitled “Active Vehicle Suspension System,” filed Jan. 22, 2015, whichdisclose examples of electro-hydraulic actuators and controllers foractive suspension systems, are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety. Other active suspension systems may include electro-magneticactive suspension actuators that typically include linear electricmotors and/or electromechanical actuators that typically utilize aball-screw mechanism.

The vehicle depicted in FIG. 1 may also include one or more sensors fordetecting various parameters. For example, a sensor may be a forwardlooking sensor such as a visual or infrared camera or detector used tomonitor objects and markings located in front of the vehicle such aslane markings, approaching vehicles and objects, and/or obstructions.Sensors may also be mounted inside of a vehicle to monitor the movementand/or physical parameters of one or more occupants located within thevehicle. In one such embodiment, the one or more sensors located withinthe vehicle may include, but are not limited to, a camera, a sensorconfigured to monitor a physiological parameter of a vehicle occupant(e.g. a heart rate monitor, a galvanic skin response sensor, andoxygenation sensor, a carbon dioxide sensor, etc.), one or moreaccelerometers, inertia monitoring units, gyroscopes, and/or any otherappropriate sensor.

In addition to the various sensors, the vehicle may also include one ormore occupant inputs 10, such as a button, a dial, touchpad, or otherappropriate input device. The input may be used by the occupant to inputinformation to a controller of the vehicle and/or the suspension system.For example, as detailed further below, the occupant may use theindicator to inform the controller that they are experiencing somedegree of motion sickness.

As also illustrated in FIG. 1 , in some embodiments, an activesuspension 4 may be combined with an air suspension 18 in series or inparallel with the active suspension system between the vehicle wheelsand vehicle body. In some instances, the active suspension and airsuspension may operate cooperatively to mitigate low frequency content,from the road, being transmitted to the sprung mass of the vehicle. Forexample, a control loop can be closed around accelerometers on the bodyof the vehicle, wherein the active suspension may extend the wheelswhile the air suspension fills (increasing ride height), and at othertimes the active suspension may retract the wheels while the airsuspension deflates (reducing ride height). Height may be dynamicallyincreased or decreased to keep the body level. Additionally, oralternatively, other motion sickness reducing control strategies, asdescribed herein, may also be employed. Depending on the embodiment, theair suspension and active suspension may operate independently at thefront and rear axle and/or independently at each wheel. In someembodiments, the air suspension may be combined with or substituted forthe active suspension units described herein.

It should be understood that the systems and features described inrelation to the above noted vehicle may be used with any of the othersystems and methods described herein either individually or incombination as the disclosure is not so limited.

During operation, the wheels of a vehicle in contact with a road surfacemay induce vehicle body motion through their interactions with the roadsurface. FIG. 2 is a chart illustrating an example of transmissibilityof disturbances from the road to the vehicle body (sprung mass). Thecurves present the magnitude of disturbances transmitted to the vehiclebody versus the frequency of the induced motion where transmissibilityis the ratio between vertical acceleration of the road as seen by thewheels ({umlaut over (Z)}_(r)) and the acceleration of the vehicle body({umlaut over (Z)}_(b)). Curve 110 is a plot of transmissibility v.frequency for an undamped suspension system. Curve 111 represents anexample of the transmissibility of an active suspension system of avehicle with a driver. In this case, the suspension system is tuned toprovide an acceptable balance between passenger comfort and road feelfor the driver. In the case of an autonomous vehicle, in someembodiments road feel may no longer an important consideration.Therefore, the active suspension system of such an autonomous vehiclemay be tuned to reduce low frequency transmissibility, such as forexample, in a range of frequencies where motion sickness may occur to agreater degree, than in the conventionally driven vehicle of curve 111.However, in some embodiments, suppressing low frequency transmissibilitymay result in degradation of road feel and increased energy consumptionby the active suspension system as well as increased transmissibility atcertain higher frequencies. Two such embodiments are illustrated bycurves 112 and 113 which illustrate examples of the transmissibility ofan autonomous vehicle equipped with an active suspension system wherethe motion at the lower frequencies are mitigated compared to the drivenvehicle (curve 111). Therefore depending on the embodiment, anautonomous vehicle, including an active suspension system, may beoperated such that it reduces transmission of movements to at least aportion of a vehicle within a frequency range associated with motionsickness or other condition and may tolerate increase transmission ofmovements to the portion of the vehicle within a different frequencyrange outside of the targeted frequency range. For example, in thedepicted embodiment, the curves associated with the autonomous vehiclesshow reduced transmission of motion to the vehicle body between about0.1 Hz and 12 Hz and regions of increased transmission of frequenciesabove 12 Hz. Of course these are simply exemplary ranges and otherfrequency ranges both larger and smaller than those shown in the figuresmay also be used.

It should be understood that a suspension system may be operated in anyappropriate fashion to provide a desired kinematic characteristic toproduce a desired reduction of motion within various frequency ranges.For example, during at least one mode of operation a suspension systemmay be operated to further reduce motion transmitted to a portion of avehicle as compared to another mode of operation within a frequencyrange equal to or between 0.05 Hz and 10 Hz, or any sub-portion thereofas described elsewhere within this disclosure. Of course the suspensionsystem may also be operated so as to further decrease transmissionmotion within frequency ranges both higher and lower than those notedabove as the disclosure is not so limited.

While the above embodiment is described primarily for use withautonomous vehicles, embodiments in which a conventionally drivenvehicle including a suspension system is operated to reduce movementstransmitted to a portion of the vehicle within a frequency rangeassociated with motion sickness may also be implemented as thedisclosure is not so limited.

FIG. 3 illustrates the distribution of power spectral density (PSD) ofoscillations transmitted to a vehicle body as a function of frequency.Curve 120 illustrates an example of PSD distribution for a vehicle withan active suspension system tuned for being driven by a person. Curve121 shows an example of PSD distribution of oscillations transmitted tothe vehicle body for an autonomous car, and/or a conventionally drivenvehicle being driven in the mode intended to reduce motion sickness,where PSD in the motion sickness band is suppressed by the activesuspension system. However, as compared to the conventionally drivenvehicle, the PSD distribution for a vehicle being operated in a mode toreduce motion sickness may include an increase in transmitted energy athigher frequencies outside of a desired range for reducing motionsickness.

As noted previously, in some embodiments, a vehicle and/or suspensioncontroller may be configured to accept one or more types of data such asone or more of vehicle acceleration, velocity and displacement in one ormore directions as well as vehicle heave, roll and pitch from one ormore sensors. Additionally, in some instances it may be beneficial for acontroller to take into account physiological parameters and/ormovements of a vehicle occupant during operation. Therefore, in oneembodiment, a controller may receive data about, for example, themovements of the head and/or torso as well as various physicalparameters of one or more occupants. A controller may also receiveinformation from one or more occupants indicative of their identityand/or comfort level through an input device such as a dial, button,touch pad, or similar type of input to permit an occupant to directlyinput information to the controller that may be used to in determininghow to control a suspension system of the vehicle. As described furtherbelow, the controller may also accept location information from a globalpositioning system (GPS) or other location based device to determine alocation of the vehicle. This information may be used to identifylocations where motion sickness may be at an increased likelihood ofoccurring. Using this information, the vehicle may either be reroutedaround these locations and/or the controller may operate the suspensionsystem in a mode intended to reduce motion sickness while the vehicle islocated in these areas.

Based at least partially on one or more of the above noted inputsources, a vehicle and/or suspension controller, may identify asituation and/or a pattern of road disturbances and/or characteristicsthat may lead to occupant discomfort or distress, such as for example,motion sickness. The controller may keep a record of their occurrenceover a period of time. For example, the controller may be programmed todetermine if situations and/or vehicle disturbances, such asacceleration in one or more directions within certain frequency rangesmay induce motion sickness in the vehicle's occupants. If the controllerdetermines that such events have been occurring over a long enoughperiod where motion sickness or another malady is imminent or likely,the controller may alter various operational parameters to forestalland/or reduce the likelihood and/or the severity of the malady.

FIG. 4 illustrates one possible embodiment of a vehicle controller thatreceives information from one or more sensors to determine whether ornot an event associated with an increased likelihood of motion sicknessis present. In one such situation, a road surface may include regularheight variations, such as expansion joints or concrete slab boundarieson a highway or bridge, which may impart a suspension perturbation at aspecific distance period while the vehicle is driven over these drivingsurfaces. This motion can be detected using sensors such asaccelerometers. For example, in the figure, a vehicle 130 is travellingalong a road surface 131 that has peaks at 133 a and 133 b that are adistance L apart. If the vehicle 30 is travelling at a speed of 40miles/hour and the distance L is 147 feet, the vehicle will travel frompeak 32 a to peak 32 b in 2.5 seconds. If such peaks reoccur along thesurface at a regular interval of L feet and the vehicle maintains aspeed of 40 miles/hour, a vertical acceleration will be imparted to thevehicle at a frequency of approximately 0.4 Hz. This frequency istypically recognized as being within a frequency band that can causemotion sickness.

In the above embodiment, if the detected vehicle perturbations from theassociated peaks continue for more than a threshold time such as 1minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes a controller of the vehicleand/or suspension system may command the vehicle and/or suspensionsystem to take an action to either reduce or alter the applied motion.For example, with the same road surface topography noted above, if anautonomous, or semi-autonomous, vehicle were to increase its speed to 65miles/hour, the road induced excitation would occur at a frequency ofapproximately 0.65 Hz which is typically recognized to be outside thefrequency band that can cause motion sickness. Additionally, in someembodiments, the controller may use an active suspension or otheractuators associated with a portion of the vehicle to induce motion inthe vehicle in a direction other than in the direction of travel. Theinduced motions may be used to mask the effects of motion that occurprior to, simultaneously with or subsequent to the induced motions. Forexample, the controller may be programmed to alter the total movementexperienced by a vehicle occupant. This may, for example, be achieved bysuperimposing active suspension induced disturbances with the roadinduced disturbances. In the case of the vehicle depicted in FIG. 3travelling at a speed of 40 miles/hour, the motion frequency experiencedby a vehicle occupant may be increased by inducing one or moreadditional displacement peaks that occur when the vehicle is betweenexpected road disturbances at points 32 a and 32 b. Depending on thenumber of suspension induced displacement peaks applied by thesuspension system between sequential road displacements, this may leadto a factor of 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, or any other appropriate factor increasein the motion frequencies experienced by a vehicle occupant. Therefore,as detailed further below, a controller may either: alter a speed of thevehicle to change the induced motion from a first frequency rangeassociated with motion sickness to a second frequency range notassociated with associated with motion sickness; use a suspension systemof the vehicle to induce motion in the vehicle to mask the road induceddisturbances; alter a kinematic characteristic of the suspension systemto reduce motion within the detected frequency range; or a combinationof the foregoing.

Elaborating on the above noted embodiment regarding masking the roaddisturbances transmitted to a vehicle body using an active suspension.In one such embodiment, the active suspension system of a vehicle may beused to alter the frequency and/or phase of vehicle motion in order toreduce the likelihood of motion sickness. For example, the activesuspension system may induce motion in the vehicle body in addition tothe road induced movement transmitted to the vehicle body to change afrequency of the overall movement experienced by a vehicle occupant.These induced motions by the active suspension system may include pitch,roll, and heave motions of the vehicle body. Further, in someembodiments, the overall resulting vehicle motion may be at a higherfrequency less likely to cause motion sickness. Depending on theembodiment, the frequencies and/or amplitudes of the motion induced inthe vehicle by the suspension system may be selected to be largelyimperceptible to the occupants. In another embodiment, the activesuspension system may be used to intentionally vary the pitch of thevehicle, for example, during stop and go driving to alter thedisturbance frequencies introduced by the braking process. Of course, itshould be understood that an active suspension system may be used toapply multiple types of motion to a vehicle body including one or moreof the above noted pitch, roll, and/or heave motions to mask aparticular type of motion being transmitted to a vehicle body from anassociated road surface.

In addition to the above, masking a road induced disturbance by alteringa frequency of the total movement applied to a vehicle body may be moreeffective if a magnitude of a phase offset suspension induceddisturbance is comparable to a magnitude of a road induced disturbance.Of course, if it is undesirable (due to energy consumption limitations)or not possible (due to the lack of available actuator travel), amasking disturbance applied to a vehicle by an active suspension systemmay be smaller in amplitude than the road induced disturbance. FIG. 5illustrates an embodiment of a road induced disturbance 140 superimposedwith, i.e. masked by, a plurality of suspension induced disturbances141. As shown in the figure, the road induced disturbance is a lowerfrequency disturbance than the superimposed higher frequencydisturbances implied by the suspension system. Additionally, in thisparticular embodiment, the disturbances applied to the vehicle bodyusing the suspension system have an amplitude that is smaller than theroad induced disturbances.

While the above embodiment describes the use of suspension systeminduced disturbances with magnitudes that are equal to or less than acorresponding road induced disturbance, embodiments in which suspensionsystem induced disturbances have magnitudes greater than a correspondingroad induced disturbance are also contemplated. For example, dependingon the various operating parameters noted above, a suspension systeminduced disturbance to the vehicle body may have a magnitude that isgreater than or equal to about 10%, 30%, 50%, 80%, 100%, or any otherappropriate percentage magnitude of a road induced disturbance to thevehicle body. Correspondingly, the suspension system induced disturbancemay have a magnitude that is less than or equal to about 150%, 120%,100%, 80%, 50%, or any other appropriate percentage magnitude of theroad induced disturbance. Combinations of the above ranges arecontemplated including, for example, a suspension induced disturbancewith a magnitude that is between or equal to about 50% and 150% of aroad induced disturbance to a vehicle body within a predeterminedfrequency range.

In order to reduce the amount of energy consumed by inducing the abovenoted disturbances using an active suspension system, in someembodiments, a controller may utilize such masking methods when it isdetermined that an undesirable condition, such as motion sickness, islikely due to the contributing conditions have been present for morethan a threshold time period. The masking methods may also be institutedwhen at least one occupant of the vehicle indicates a discomfort levelto the controller using an appropriate input that is greater than orequal to a threshold level of discomfort. The controller may alsodetermine a discomfort level of the one or more occupants using one moresensors as described further below.

FIG. 6 illustrates a vehicle 150 traveling in stop and go traffic. Inpositions 151 a and 151 c the vehicle is travelling forward, while inpositions 151 b and 151 d the vehicle is braking. Typically, at eachbraking event the vehicle pitches forward by an amount that isdetermined by the rate of deceleration. If due to traffic conditions,for example, braking events occur every 20 feet and the vehicle travelsat an average speed of five miles per hour, the frequency of occurrenceof braking events will be 0.36 Hz which is in a frequency range that istypically considered to induce motion sickness. In embodiments, acontroller may be used to recognize, based on data from one or moresensors, a pattern of braking induced disturbance that occurs, forexample, in the range of 0.05 Hz to 1 Hz, 0.05 Hz to 0.5 Hz, 0.08 Hz to0.4 Hz, or any other appropriate frequency range. If this patterncontinues for a threshold time period and/or if information is receivedfrom one or more occupants of the vehicle indicating that one or morepersons are suffering from motion sickness, the controller may takecorrective action. For example, a controller may brake more frequently,even if not necessary due to traffic conditions, in order to move thebraking frequency beyond the range that may cause discomfort such as,for example, motion sickness. The controller may also operate an activesuspension system of the vehicle, to reduce, or eliminate, the detectedpitch motion of the vehicle body and/or a portion of the vehicleassociated with one or more vehicle occupants.

While the above noted embodiment describes reducing or eliminating thepitch associated with each braking event, in some embodiments, in orderto conserve energy, it may be necessary to operate the active suspensionsystem of the vehicle to reduce, or eliminate, the pitch associated witha portion of the braking events. For example, if the pitch in two out ofthree braking events is eliminated by the active suspension system, thefrequency of pitch events may be moved to a frequency range outside of amotion sickness inducing frequency range, while the number of brakingevents remains the same.

In a somewhat similar embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 7 , a vehicle160, with an active suspension system, may undergo pitch motions duringany number of different situations. However, regardless of theparticular situation giving rise to a pitch motion of a vehicle, intypical vehicles the front row occupants may be closer to a center ofrotation in a pitch motion than occupants located in a center or backrow seat. Therefore, in some embodiments, a vehicle and/or activesuspension controller may operate the active suspension system, whichinclude actuators 161 a and 161 b, to reduce, or eliminate, the verticalmotion experienced by the rear seat occupants when the vehicle pitcheseither during normal operation, and/or when the pitch motions arelocated within a frequency range associated with motion sickness and thevehicle is being operated in a mode to reduce motion sickness.

In some embodiments, a vehicle may be equipped with multiple suspensionsystems associated with different portions of a vehicle. For example, afirst suspension system may be interposed between the wheels of avehicle and the vehicle chassis or undercarriage. A second suspensionsystem may be interposed between the chassis or undercarriage and thepassenger compartment. A third suspension system may then be interposedbetween the passenger compartment and one or more structures within thepassenger compartment such as a vehicle occupant seat and/or a worksurface such as a table or a desk.

When multiple suspension systems are used in a vehicle, one or more ofthese suspension systems may be active, semi-active, passive, or acombination of the above. Further, each of the suspension systems maywork independently or in coordination with one or more of the othersystems. Each of the suspension systems may share one or more sensors ormay receive information from the same or different sources. For example,the suspension systems may be controlled by a central controller theyare in electrical communication with and/or they may be in electricalcommunication with individual controllers associated with eachsuspension system. Additionally, each actuator and/or damper within thesuspension systems may either be in electrical communication with acentral controller of that suspension system and/or they may be inelectrical communication with a plurality of distributed controllersindividually associated with each actuator as the disclosure is notlimited in this fashion.

In embodiments where one or more active suspension systems are used in avehicle, the one or more active suspension systems may be used tointroduce desirable motions or suppress certain undesirable motions inone or more portions of the vehicle relative other portions of thevehicle and/or to an absolute reference frame. For example, one or moreseats within a vehicle may be moved in a manner that would promote sleepand/or increased drowsiness in a baby or an infant. This motion may beat a predetermined frequency and/or amplitude, selected by anotherindividual and/or automatically by a controller. In another embodiment,certain seats that are occupied may be controlled to reduce motionassociated with certain frequency ranges to a greater degree than otherseats that are not occupied. Alternatively, one or more seats within avehicle may be controlled to suppress certain frequencies to a greaterdegree than other seats in the passenger compartment. Such an embodimentmay be advantageous if: one or more occupants within a vehicle are moresensitive to motion sickness than other occupants located within thesame vehicle; one or more occupants are in an orientation that is morelikely to induce motion sickness; or an occupant has a particularailment such as a back problem. Seats occupied by such individuals maybe determined by using sensors, such as facial recognition cameras, orby using devices that enable passengers in a vehicle to provide data toa controller. Benefits associated with individually controlling variousstructures in a vehicle may include conserving energy, enhancing theoverall comfort of all passengers, and avoiding unnecessary wear andtear on actuators.

In embodiments, where multiple suspension systems are used as describedabove, the various suspension systems may either be used independentlyand/or in conjunction with one another. For example, one or more seatsuspension systems may be used independently or in conjunction with avehicle active suspension system associated with the vehicle body andwheels. In one such embodiment, the different suspension systems may beused to reduce transmitted motion within different frequency ranges. Asnoted above, these different suspension systems may be associated withvarious different portions of a vehicle. However, in one embodiment, aseat suspension system may be used to reduce motions within a firstfrequency range transmitted to an occupant in the seat while anassociated vehicle active suspension system is used to mitigate motionin a different second frequency range. These different frequency rangesmay correspond to any appropriate ranges of frequency as the disclosureis not so limited. However, embodiments where a lower mass portion ofthe vehicle is damped to a greater degree at lower frequencies and thevehicle body is damped at higher frequencies to a greater may requireless energy, i.e. reduce overall energy consumption. This may be due tolow frequency motions requiring more energy to damp per unit mass.Therefore, damping the heavier vehicle body at higher frequencies andthe lighter seat at lower frequencies may reduce energy consumption. Inone such embodiment, a seat and/or passenger compartment suspensionsystem, or other suspension system associated with a portion of avehicle, may be used to primarily mitigate low frequency oscillationsbetween about 0.05 Hz and 0.5 Hz, or 0.05 Hz and 1.0 Hz, while theactive suspension system is used to primarily isolate the vehicle fromdisturbances with frequency greater than those mitigated by the seatsuspension system. Of course, while a specific frequency ranges arenoted above, the various suspension systems associated with portions ofa vehicle may be operated in any number of different frequency rangesincluding ranges both greater than and less than those noted above.

As noted above, certain portions of a vehicle may be controlledseparately from the remainder of the vehicle body. For example, seatsmay be controlled to eliminate frequencies in a particular range, suchas 0.05 to 1 Hz, while the remainder of the vehicle body may becontrolled at frequencies greater than 1 Hz. However, under certaincircumstances, this may result in large amplitude relative motionbetween different structures inside the vehicle compartment which mayeither be disturbing and/or lead to unwanted contact between a structureand an occupant of the vehicle. Therefore, in some embodiments themotion of different structures within a passenger compartment, or otherportion of a vehicle, may be controlled in different frequency rangesand the relative motion between those structures may be limited to beless than or equal to a relative movement threshold. This may either becontrolled through active feedback related to the structures' movementsand positions, or in some embodiments, mechanical constraints may beused restrict the relative motion in at least one direction between twoor more structures. For example, if the passenger compartment iscontrolled separately from the vehicle chassis, mechanical constraintsmay be added to restrict relative lateral motion between the twostructures.

While a seat active suspension system has been described above for usein a vehicle such as an automobile, a seat active suspension system mayalso be used in other types of vehicles including, for example, a boator other watercraft to isolate passengers from oscillations within afrequency range associated motion sickness. Therefore, as shown in moredetail below in the figures, in some embodiments, a seat suspensionsystem may be used in a boat or other watercraft whenever the watercraftis subjected to certain event patterns which may cause motion sickness.In other embodiments, the seat active suspension system may be operatedwhen requested by one or more passengers. The seat active suspensionsystem may have one degree of freedom (such as, for example, verticalcontrol), or multiple degrees of freedom in order to create, pitch,roll, and/or heave motions in the associated seat. FIGS. 8-9 illustratevarious embodiments of this concept.

FIG. 8 illustrates a vehicle 170 with an active suspension system thatincludes actuators 171 a and 171 b. The vehicle also includes a seatsuspension system 172. In some embodiments, the seat suspension systemmay be used to damp out low frequency oscillations, or motions,transmitted to the vehicle body from being transmitted to a vehicleoccupant 173. As noted above, this configuration may result in energysavings because a relatively smaller mass needs to be activelycontrolled over long periods than if the active suspension is used tocontrol low frequency oscillations of the entire vehicle. However,embodiments in which the active suspension system associated with thewheels and vehicle body is operated to significantly reduce motion inthe same frequency ranges are also contemplated as the disclosure is notso limited

FIG. 9 illustrates a watercraft 180 where a seat suspension system 181reduces the magnitude of oscillations or other motions that reachoccupant 182 seated in the associated seat. In some embodiments theactuator may be used to mitigate primarily oscillations and movementswithin the frequency range associated with motion sickness. Depending onthe particular embodiment, the seat suspension system may be used tomitigate motion within a frequency range associated with motion sicknesswhen requested by a vehicle occupant. Additionally, the suspensionsystem may be used to mitigate motion in the motion sickness frequencyrange when an event pattern is recognized by a vehicle and/or suspensionsystem controller that is associated with an increased likelihood ofmotion sickness as described further below.

In one embodiment, a controller of an autonomous vehicle and/or anactive suspension system may make route selections based on thesusceptibility to motion sickness of one or more occupants in thevehicle and/or information about road characteristics and travelcharacteristics of various routes the vehicle may travel on. Forexample, the controller of an autonomous vehicle may select one roadover another because the combination of road surface conditions andpossible speed of travel of one road may be less likely to cause motionsickness. Additionally, as detailed further below, particular locationsmay be associated with an increased likeliness of one or more occupantsof the vehicle experiencing motion sickness. Consequently, when avehicle is located in these areas, the controller of the vehicle and/oractive suspension system may enact any of the motion sickness mitigationtechniques described herein to reduce a likelihood of motion sicknessfor the vehicle occupants. Specific embodiments of such a system andmethods are described further below.

Under certain circumstances the need for corrective action by a vehicleand/or suspension controller may be minimized if the vehicle controlleris used to avoid the production of undesirable disturbances whenperforming certain vehicular functions. For example, in stop-and-gotraffic, instead of repeatedly employing the brakes to stop the vehicleat regular intervals, the throttle, transmission and ranging systems maybe used to accelerate and decelerate the vehicle such that optimalspacing may be maintained with other vehicles and the use of the brakescan be minimized. Additionally, during turns, the vehicle controller mayoperate the steering and engine throttle to optimally match availableturn radius with vehicle speed so as to minimize the production oflateral disturbances in a frequency range associated with an increasedlikelihood of motion sickness. Route planning systems may utilizeforward looking cameras, GPS systems, and road surface databases so asto select the best GPS route and/or lane to minimize disturbances in themotion sickness frequency range. This may at least partially be based onremotely stored data transmitted to the vehicle, such as a cloud basedserver transmitting information regarding a particular location to avehicle traveling in that location. While the operation of a vehicle andsuspension system to reduce lateral movements of a vehicle has beendescribed above, it should be understood that a speed, turning radius,and one or more suspension systems of a vehicle may be controlled toprovide a desired amount of motion reduction in any direction includingbut not limited to pitch, roll, heave, lateral, and axial direction.Additionally, in instances where an active suspension system is used,the active suspension system may be controlled to provide a desiredvehicle posture for various maneuvers performed in an autonomous drivingmode.

In one embodiment, it may be desirable for a vehicle and/or suspensionsystem controller to determine a motion sickness mitigation strategyprior to encountering different situations along a planned drivingroute. In such an embodiment, expected event patterns may be predictedby a controller for a planned route based on, for example, one or moreof data collected by look-ahead sensors and/or previously collected datarelated to the desired route. While any appropriate type of look-aheadsensor may be used to sense information from a driving surface locatedahead of a vehicle in the direction of travel, appropriate sensorsinclude, but are not limited to, optical cameras, infrared cameras,laser range finders, radar, LIDAR, or any other appropriate sensor. Whenusing previously collected road data, a vehicle may either recallinformation collected and stored by the same vehicle on a previous trip,receive information wirelessly transmitted from other vehicles, and/orreceive information from a remotely located computing device or serverthat stores road information sensed by other vehicles during priortrips. For example, vehicles that detect motions within a frequencyrange associated with motion sickness may transmit the experiencedevents and locations to a central server or computing device where theyare stored in a database for subsequent transmission to vehicles eitherplanning to travel, or are traveling, through those locations.

Using the information from the look ahead sensors and/or previouslyrecorded information, a vehicle controller may identify locations alonga planned route where conditions may result in an increased likelinessof motion sickness. Corrective actions may then be planned andimplemented when the vehicle is located in the identified locations toavoid exposing occupants to disturbances that may cause an increasedlikelihood of motion sickness. Additionally, using the look aheadsensors the vehicle may scan the surroundings to create a map of vehiclesurroundings and objects. Based on height and frequency thresholds setto classify road conditions needing correction, the vehicle will havepredictive knowledge of road characteristics before the conditions areexperienced. Using an updated 3D map, the vehicle may determine anappropriate path of travel through obstacles, whether stationary ormoving, and the amount of energy needed for various maneuvers.

In addition to modifying the operation of a suspension system, motionsickness avoidance algorithms of a vehicle may either suggest a routemodification to a conventionally driven vehicle or modify a planneddriving route for an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle usinglocation based input from a central database or location and GPS-basedroad data. Such algorithms may alter the chosen route to reach adestination in order to avoid motion sickness inducing conditions. Suchconditions may be based on known motion sickness inducing roads or roadsegments, present traffic conditions, and/or any other factor that maycontribute to motion sickness. However, in some embodiments, motionsickness avoidance algorithms, including route planning considerations,may be discontinued based on occupant request and/or preference.

In embodiments, data from one or more sensors indicative of operationalconditions that may induce discomfort, such a motion sickness, to avehicle occupant are stored for subsequent use or recall. This data maybe stored either locally on a vehicle or remotely on a remotely locatedserver or database. As detailed below, this data may be used to identifyfuture occurrences of certain patterns of operational parameters thatare precursors to or indicative of occupant discomfort, such as motionsickness. This recorded data may then be used as a predictive tool, forexample for a specific occupant, specific road segment, or specificvehicle to identify events and/or locations that are likely to inducevehicle occupant discomfort. This data may also be shared, for example,with other vehicles or uploaded to a central repository such as adatabase or server the vehicle is in communication with either through awireless or wired connection when the vehicle is connected to anappropriate internet portal. Depending on the application, this data maybe sent with or without demographic information about vehicle occupants.The data may then be analyzed centrally to identify patterns ofoperational parameters that can be used as templates for comparison withactual operating conditions to predict motion sickness or other vehiclerelated maladies that may be universal or specific to various roads orsegments of the population. Specific non-limiting examples of patternsof movement that may be used as a template for predicting motionsickness are detailed further below.

In some embodiments, if vehicle sensors and/or available data indicatethat, due to recently experienced motion patterns, a situation is likelythat may cause discomfort (such as, for example, motion sickness), avehicle and/or suspension controller may take preventive measures tomitigate the situation using any of the motion and/or motion sicknessmitigation methods and systems described herein. Such information maythen be shared, for example by using a wireless connection or theinternet, with other vehicles and/or remotely located servers ordatabases. Therefore, a database may be developed from such sharedinformation that can be accessed by vehicles to help mitigate suchsituations in the future. This database may include situational,operational, and/or geographic information. For example, in someembodiments, if vehicle sensors detect road conditions that are prone tocause passenger discomfort, for example motion sickness, an indicationof such conditions may be communicated to one or more other vehiclesand/or to a central database or server. This may allow other vehicles tocompensate for or avoid discomfort causing road conditions before theyare sensed by the vehicle. When a vehicle detects conditions that maycause passenger discomfort, an indication of severity may also beassigned to the detected pattern and may be communicated to othervehicles or interested parties. Depending on the level of severity, thevehicle may either change the planned route or compensate for the roadperturbations when the vehicle experiences them by, for example,changing speed and/or more aggressively isolating the vehicle body orstructures within the vehicle in a particular frequency range that may,for example, cause motion sickness or be otherwise unpleasant for one ormore vehicle occupants.

In certain applications, it may be desirable to record occupant inputregarding situations experienced by a vehicle for different geographicalconditions and/or locations. For instance, vehicle occupants may inputinformation to a vehicle controller regarding specific geographicalconditions and/or locations. Further, in some instances, it may bedesirable for the occupant to input information to the controllerregarding how the vehicle should behave in a particular location and/orcondition. For example, the occupant can indicate where a particularconstruction route is occurring with the intention for the vehiclesuspension to behave in a certain manner, such as with increased motionmitigation, while traveling through the area. Similar to the aboveembodiments, geographical locations, routes, and/or conditionsidentified to cause occupant discomfort may then be transmitted to othervehicles and/or a central database for subsequent use and/or storage. Inone such embodiment, based on vehicle occupant feedback and roadcondition detection, a geographical location may be identified to causeheightened feelings of vehicle occupant discomfort such as, for example,motion sickness. This information may then be transmitted to one or morevehicles that will potentially travel along the route. The vehicle oroccupants may decide to avoid such identified routes in an attempt toreduce vehicle occupant discomfort occurrence. Additionally, in anotherembodiment, based on the information obtained from a car's localdatabase, a remote database, and/or transmitted from other vehicles, acontroller of the vehicle may: recommend the most comfortable (i.e.smoothest) route; use information from a network accessible databasewith road roughness data combined with routing algorithms to give theroute with the best ride possible within certain constraints such as forexample, time, tolls, scenery, occupant requirements, etc; reduced powerconsumption; as well as any other desirable metric for controlling avehicle. For example, an autonomous vehicle may use information from adatabase or previous trips to determine the locations of potholes orother impediments, and can plan a travel route that avoids these roadfeatures.

During vehicle motion, vehicle sensors may also classify roadperturbations into categories that may be useful in aiding with themaintenance and upkeep of roads. Data about road profiles identifiedduring vehicle motion can be transmitted to a central database or serverwhere it is aggregated with information from multiple vehicles toproduce a comprehensive mapping of road conditions associated with aparticular location. The road conditions identified within thisdatabase, and/or information provided directly from individual vehicles,may then be provided to local governing agencies to keep updated roadcondition records. For example, the location and severity of potholes orroad degradation may be identified and reported to local agencies in anattempt to make road maintenance and upkeep more efficient. Roadconditions sensed by the various vehicle sensors may also include, butis not limited to weather related conditions such as, for example, snowand ice cover may be identified using information such as antilock brakesystem activations, cameras, and/or any other appropriate type of sensoror system. This information may again be supplied to a central server ordatabase where it may be analyzed and/or shared. Mapping of the locationof potholes and other road hazards may be performed as a service forvarious interested parties. In one such embodiment, the magnitudes anddirections of disturbances input into the wheels and/or vehicle body ofa vehicle relative to the nominal disturbance from a particular surfacemay be used to identify perturbations within a road surface includingfeatures such as potholes. Further, the magnitude of a particulardisturbance at a given vehicle velocity may be used to determine theseverity, i.e. size, of a particular feature. Again, this informationmay be combined with location information to at least partially controlthe operation of a suspension system and/or planning of a route. Also,this information may be uploaded to a central database and/ortransmitted to other vehicles for subsequent use in planning routes andmotion mitigation strategies.

Vehicle motion while traveling on a road typically occurs with sixdegrees of freedom. Therefore, in some embodiments, an active suspensionsystem may be used to control the heave, pitch, and/or roll of avehicle. However, in some embodiments, such as fully autonomous orpartially autonomous vehicles, the propulsion, steering and/or othersystems in a vehicle may be used to control motion in the fore-aft, yaw,and lateral directions as well in order to, for example, mitigate motionsickness. In addition, by changing the speed of a vehicle, it ispossible to change the frequencies and/or magnitudes of road-induceddisturbances, such as vertical disturbances due to spaced bumps orvariations in a road surface, to which the vehicle body and/or occupantsare exposed.

In some embodiments, one or more controllers in a vehicle, that is underpartial or full autonomous control, may be used to control two or moreof the vehicular systems noted above including, for example, the activesuspension, propulsion systems (e.g. throttle), braking system, and/orsteering systems to coordinate operation of the vehicle to events and/orpatterns that may cause discomfort to an individual. Further, operationof these vehicle system may be used to alter a frequency, direction,and/or magnitude of forces and/or accelerations that the vehicle and/oroccupants within the vehicle are exposed. This coordination among two ormore such systems may be established for a single events, for anextended period, such as for example when it is determined that motionsickness is likely, and/or may be used throughout vehicle operation asthe disclosure is not limited in this fashion. Additionally, whilecoordination amongst these vehicle systems to control motion of thevehicles and occupants has been described, embodiments in which thesevehicle systems are controlled individually to mitigate these motionsare also contemplated.

In one exemplary embodiment, one or more controllers in a partially orfully autonomous vehicle may be used to adjust the speed of a vehicle soas to reduce the centripetal acceleration to which a vehicle is exposedwhile traversing an upcoming curve so that the vehicle could bemaintained at, for example, a desired posture such as roll angle,maximum roll angle, and/or maximum roll rate below a certain thresholdvalue which may otherwise be beyond, for example, the power, energy,force and/or frequency response limitations of an associated activesuspension system.

In another embodiment, one or more controllers in a vehicle may be usedto determine a proper speed at which a vehicle should navigate a turn,or other maneuver, in the road so that the active suspension system maybe able to maintain a vehicle at a desired positive, neutral, ornegative roll angle throughout the turn while maintaining operation ofthe active suspension system within a desired threshold limit such as anenergy threshold, a force threshold. In some embodiments, thecoordination between two or more systems such as the active suspension,propulsion, and braking systems, may also be used to control vehiclepitch during braking by changing a frequency of braking events, vehiclespeed, acceleration, deceleration, and other appropriate parameters.Additionally, when it is determined that one or more passengers arelikely to suffer from motion sickness, or other discomfort, the above,or other mitigation techniques using one or more of the noted vehiclesystems as described herein may be instituted.

FIG. 37 illustrates an embodiment of a location tagged database (LTD)900 that may be used to aid navigation and operation of autonomous,semi-autonomous, and conventionally driven vehicles as previouslydescribed. Information in an LTD which may be associated with positionalong a road may include, for example, topographical data 901, roadtrack data 902, road condition data 903, user mode preferenceinformation 904, driver behavior data 905, motion sickness inducementfactor 906, and user selected height adjustment 907. Information in theLTD may be collected from various real-time sources, including vehiclestraveling along a road and/or batch and/or archival sources.

In certain embodiments of an LTD, positioning data, such as may beobtained from, for example, a GPS receiver, may have insufficientresolution to permit reliable navigation. Therefore, the globalpositional data in the LTD may be correlated with, and augmented by,information about the relative position of features such as trees,telephone poles, bridges, buildings, sign posts, and/or details aboutthe road being traveled, including, for example, the relative positionof turns, changes in elevation, and surface roughness and/or anomalies.

Such local data sets may be used to generate patterns that may be storedin association with large scale or global coordinates that may have alower level of granularity. These local patterns may then be used byvehicles to locate themselves more precisely with respect to the roadthan would be possible with lower granularity global positioning data.

This higher granularity local data may be compiled from informationreceived from various sources such as vehicles traveling on the road,third party applications including but not limited to Google StreetView, surveying companies, satellite imaging companies, andmunicipalities.

In some embodiments, the information in the LTD may also include, forexample, traffic conditions and snow and ice cover obtained in real timefrom various sources, including but not limited to traffic reportingcompanies, municipalities, and/or police departments. In addition, datapertaining to road debris and/or short term road impediments orobstacles may be collected. In some embodiments, this data may beassigned a decay period and/or rate such that as the road impediment orobstacle is repaired, altered, or removed, data stored in the LTD may beupdated after a period of time based on the number of reports that theimpediment or obstacle is encountered by vehicles on the road. Any ofthis data may be supplied to any vehicle type such as autonomous andconventionally driven vehicles and vehicles with active, semi-active andpassive suspension systems

FIG. 38 illustrates an LTD 900 that is exchanging information withreal-time data source(s) 910, third party applications 911, and multiplevehicles that may obtain information from various sources 912 such ascontrollers and/or sensors from autonomous vehicles, conventionalvehicles, non-active suspension vehicles, active suspension vehicles,and/or any other appropriate source of information. The informationexchange between the database and the vehicles may be in real-timeand/or in batch form which may be transferred at a convenient time. Forexample, wireless communication and/or a physical internet connectionmay be used to transfer information between the LTD and the vehicleseither continuously, as might be expected during use while driving,and/or when a vehicle is parked at an appropriate docking station orother type of connection. In certain embodiments, information transferwith one or more of these sources may be one directional orbidirectional.

FIG. 39 illustrates an embodiment of an instrumented vehicle 920 thatmay collect and/or provide information about a road to an LTD. Theinformation may be collected using sensors such as for example a GPSreceiver 921, a human monitoring sensor 922 (e.g. accelerometers, worndevices, temperature sensors, etc.), a human machine interface 923 forreporting road events (e.g. a button or touchpad terminal for inputtinginformation), optical sensors 924, Lidar 925, front wheel accelerometer926, rear wheel accelerometer 927, chassis accelerometers 928 a and 928b, and/or any appropriate sensor associated with either the vehicleand/or occupant located therein. As noted above, information may beexchanged, using a signal transmission/reception device 929, between avehicle and a remotely located server and/or database, such as an LTD,using various types of communication including both physical connectionsand wireless communication including, without limitation, satellitecommunication, infrared, radio, microwave, Wi-Fi, and mobile networksthe disclosure is not limited to any particular type of communicationmethod.

FIG. 40 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a controller 930of one or more active suspension actuators of a vehicle. In oneembodiment, low resolution GPS data 931 is collected and used toidentify proximal information 932 associated with the segment of roadthe vehicle is located on. This proximal information may be obtainedfrom a local database (i.e. an on vehicle database), a remote LTD,and/or a combination of the above. Sensor inputs 936 may include vehiclebody accelerations, for example, from an IMU, speedometer readings,steering wheel positon, distances to objects, and other types of sensordata regarding the road a vehicle is traveling on may be compared to oneor more patterns of features present in the proximal information 932.This sensed data may be compared to the stored patterns to identifymatches between the sensed information and the proximal information bythe road filter 933. This correlation between the sensed and proximalinformation may then be used to more accurately locate the vehiclewithin the road. This high precision localization may then be used toprovide information to the suspension algorithm 934 in order to moreeffectively anticipate and respond to road characteristics.

FIG. 41 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the collectionand exchange of information by a vehicle 940 with a database 944. In thedepicted embodiment, sensors 941 collect information and provide atleast some of the information to one or more suspension actuators 942 ofan active or semi-active system. Some or all of the informationcollected by the sensors is then stored in a recent sensor cache 943.Some or all of the information sensor cache is also conveyed to aremotely located database 944, e.g. an LTD, in real time and/or at aconvenient subsequent opportunity. Separately, information from the LTDmay be received in the proximal map cache 945 of the vehicle and may beused in conjunction with the real time sensor data to control suspensionactuators. As noted previously, any appropriate communication techniquemay be used to transmit data between the database and the vehicle.

FIG. 42 illustrates an autonomous vehicle 950 traveling down the centerof a travel lane 951. In the depicted embodiment, the current travelvector of the vehicle 950 will impact with obstruction 952, which may befor example a pot hole, bump, or other feature. In contrast, vehicle953, traveling along the same road with the same obstruction, may takeevasive action, i.e. maneuver the vehicle out of a collision course withan obstruction. In one embodiment, the vehicle is able to take the notedevasive action using location specific information such as the proximalinformation and global positioning information noted above to identifyupcoming obstructions within the path of travel. Using this information,as the vehicle approaches 952 the vehicle determines its positionrelative to the obstruction and determines a path of travel to avoid theobstruction while remaining within acceptable travel parameters. Thepath of travel may include moving within a single line, changing lanes,or any other appropriate vehicle maneuver. Once an appropriate path oftravel has been determined, the vehicle controller may operate asteering system of the vehicle to change course so as to avoid theobstruction. Consequently, vehicle 953 may avoid the obstruction 952.This ability to evade obstructions may be used in conjunction with orinstead of other obstruction avoidance techniques discussed herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a controlsystem 190 for an autonomous vehicle that is equipped with an activevehicle suspension system 192, an active seat suspension system 193,and/or one or more vehicle subsystems 191 (e.g. throttle, brakingsystem, steering system, etc.). However, it should be understood thatthe any number of the various concepts described herein may also beimplemented in a conventionally driven vehicle as well. In the depictedembodiment, a vehicle controller 194 may be a single integrated unitthat encompass an active suspension controller 196, a seat controller195, and a vehicle sub-systems controller 197 for controlling thosefunctions (e.g. a throttling of the engine, braking, steering, etc.) ofthe vehicle. On the other hand, one or more of the sub-controllers maybe housed separately from the vehicle controller. The vehicle controllerreceives sensor information from one or more sensors through a sensorinterface 198 and also communicates with one or more vehicle occupantsby means of one or more occupant inputs via a user interface 199. Bycontrolling the active suspension system, the seat and other vehiclesub-systems, the vehicle controller is able to control the frequency andphase of road induced disturbances that are felt by an occupant 200. Thecontroller may also be in electrical communication with a communicationinterface 201 to obtain information from an onboard database, othervehicles, and/or a central database. Again this information may be usedby the controller to determine appropriate motion mitigation strategiesand/or route planning at any given time and/or location.

Data may be received by a vehicle controller from various vehiclesensors and inputs including, for example, an accelerometer, agyroscope, a load sensor, a laser or radar based range finder, anoptical camera, an infrared camera, data received from vehicle occupantinput, a combination of any of the above, and/or any other appropriatesensor. As noted above, user input may be in a variety of formsincluding, but not limited to, an indication that an autonomous vehiclemode is desired, an indication of passenger discomfort, an indicationthat a particular drive mode is desired (i.e. a sport mode versus anenhanced comfort mode). Information from one or more of these sensorsmay be fed into a pattern detection algorithm that resides in thevehicle controller 194. This pattern detection may be used to identifyany desired event patterns related to vehicle motion including, forexample, roll, pitch, heave, road surface irregularities, acceleration,braking, a combination of the foregoing, as well as any otherappropriate type of motion. Patterns identified and the period overwhich they occur may be fed into the vehicle controller, a seat dampercontroller, and/or an active suspension controller. The appropriatecontroller may then command the vehicle, or sub-portion thereof, to takeany corrective action needed such as, for example, altering vehiclespeed and/or operating the suspension system to implement a desiredcorrective action. Again, corrective actions may include, for example,suppressing certain frequency bands to a greater degree and/orintroducing energy (i.e. increased motion being transmitted to thevehicle body) in other frequency ranges as well as inducing motionwithin one or more portions of the vehicle, as well as any number ofother strategies as the disclosure is not so limited.

In addition to monitoring a magnitude of disturbances in particularfrequency ranges, pattern detection may also include monitoring anamount of energy consumed to mitigate motion within one or morefrequency ranges for road induced disturbances. In such an embodiment,when an energy to mitigate disturbances within a particular frequencyrange used by an active suspension system, or other vehicle system,exceeds a threshold energy, the active suspension system may becontrolled to mitigate motion within this frequency range to a greaterdegree. In some embodiments, the noted frequency range is a frequencyrange associated with motion sickness.

Having described several exemplary systems that may implement motionsickness and road disturbance mitigation methods, an exemplaryembodiment of a control method for a vehicle is illustrated in FIG. 11 .The figure depicts a flow chart of a vehicle and/or suspension systemcontrol loop 220 being implemented. First, motion of one or moreportions of a vehicle may be monitored at 221 using any appropriatearrangement of sensors including, for example, accelerometers orientedin desired directions, three axes accelerometers, gyroscopes, a vehiclevelocimeter, IMUs, or any other type of sensor. These sensors may besensitive to movements within a desired operating frequency range of thevehicle. As detailed further below, once the motion is detected by thesensors, a signal is transmitted to a controller of the vehicle and/or amotion mitigation system, such as a suspension system, to determine ifthe motions may correspond to an event pattern associated with motionsickness or other situation using an appropriate event patternrecognition algorithm at 222. The controller may also receive road data223 that may be used to help identify event patterns and/or locationsthat may cause motion sickness. As noted previously, road data providedto the controller may include, but is not limited to, location relatedinformation such as traffic conditions, road features and topology, lookahead sensor data, speed limit ranges, and other appropriate types ofinformation from any appropriate sensor or database.

At 226 information from one or more of the event pattern recognitionalgorithm 222, passenger inputs 224, and information from a database orseparate vehicle that the vehicle is in communication with may be usedto decide if one or more events have been present for a sufficientthreshold duration and/or have a sufficiently severe magnitude thatcorrective action should be taken to mitigate the impact of thesemotions and/or situations on a vehicle occupant, see 226. Of course,while input from an occupant has been depicted as being considered indeciding whether or not corrective action may be needed, in someembodiments, motion sickness mitigation procedures may be used evenwithout any feedback from vehicle passengers. For example, motionmitigation procedures may be implemented when a vehicle is traveling atspeeds or under traffic conditions and/or within geographic locations,as determined through GPS coordinates, where the likelihood of motionsickness is elevated. Additionally, such mitigation procedures may beused continuously, for example for a particular trip, a portion of atrip, when the vehicle is used at particular times of the day, and/orfor particular passengers.

Once it has been decided that an appropriate corrective action should beimplemented, a controller of the vehicle and/or a sub-portion of thevehicle, such as a suspension system, may implement any appropriatemotion and/or motion sickness medication strategy including thosedescribed herein at 229. Depending on the type, as well as severity, ofan event and/or pattern, the corrective actions may either be takenimmediately or after a predetermined threshold time period has elapsedand the event and/or pattern is still present. Various strategies thatmay be implemented include, but are not limited to, altering theperformance characteristics of a suspension system within one or morefrequency ranges associated with motion sickness, changing the speed ofa vehicle over a particular road or changing the frequency ofdisturbances affecting the motion of the vehicle, as well as othersdescribed herein. Other strategies that may be used include, controllingvehicle acceleration, deceleration, turning rates, and/or turning radiusto alter the frequency and/or magnitudes of pitch, roll, heave, lateral,and/or fore-aft accelerations affecting motion of the vehicle. Further,in some embodiments, if more than one vehicle occupant is suffering fromdiscomfort, the vehicle control response may be tailored to, i.e.selected to appropriately address the motion sickness needs of, thepassenger experiencing the most discomfort.

With regards to the passenger inputs noted above, in some embodimentscertain high level modes may be available in an autonomous vehicle thatcan be selected by a vehicle occupant or automatically by the vehicle. AStability Plus active suspension mode may be available where increasedstability and comfort is provided. For example, occupants may requestStability Plus when an occupant is especially susceptible to motionsickness. Stability Plus may also be automatically implemented by thevehicle without occupant intervention if conditions are identified wherethere it is very likely, for example with greater than 75% likelihoodthat motion sickness will occur. In some embodiments a Traction Plusactive suspension mode may also be selected by an occupant to provideincreased road traction and a sport feel with increased feedback aboutroad conditions. Traction Plus may be implemented automatically by thevehicle or requested by occupant indication, such as for example, whenweather conditions are especially poor or there is a situation notadequately perceived by the vehicle, such as, for example, an oil spill.Occupants may also opt for increased traction to experience a moreexciting or thrilling ride. An occupant may also select an Energy Plusautonomous vehicle mode to implement energy and/or power limits. EnergyPlus may also be implemented automatically by the vehicle, for example,when the system determines that one or more portions of the system maynot be functioning efficiently and/or energy needs to be conserved sothat a particular trip can be completed. Additionally, an occupant mayrequest an Energy Plus mode to conserve energy, for example, forenvironmental reasons.

One or more unique profiles may also be created and saved to a localand/or remotely located database to indicate personal suspensionpreferences previously input or determined for one or more occupants.For example, an occupant may be prone to motion sickness and may prefera ride experience focused on comfort instead of speed. Each occupant cansave a profile within the vehicle. Prior to the start of a trip, eachoccupant can indicate their presence to the vehicle, which will allowthe vehicle to consider driving preferences based on the informationstored in the local and/or remotely located database related to eachindicated occupant before making decisions. In instances whereindividual seats are associated with separate secondary suspensionsystems. A performance profile can be set for each individual seat whichwill behave uniquely for each passenger according to personalpreferences.

In addition to deciding whether or not to implement corrective actionson a vehicle, if an event or pattern is identified that is eitherassociated with motion sickness at a particular location and/or avehicle occupant indicates that the detected motions and/or eventsresulted in motion sickness, the vehicle may store this pattern and/orevent at 227 and 228. Specifically, depending on the particularembodiment, the pattern and/or event may be stored both locally on apattern and event database on the vehicle as well as being transmittedto a central server or database to supplement the location basedinformation and/or patterns known to cause motion sickness forsubsequent use in other vehicles as detailed above.

In addition to simply storing patterns, in some embodiments, when anoccupant has indicated to a controller vehicle that they areexperiencing discomfort and/or motion sickness above a preset threshold,data from one or more sensors indicative of one or more operationalconditions of the vehicle and/or passenger conditions that may inducemotion sickness are recorded and monitored. For example, using sensorssituated inside the vehicle that track occupant motion, such as acamera, the vehicle may correlate passenger behavior with roadoccurrences. Other sensors that might be monitored include one or moresensors that monitor movement of one or more portions of the vehicleincluding the vehicle body and/or the passenger compartment. Appropriatetypes of motion sensors are listed previously above. Regardless of theparticular sensors used, the detected events and/or patterns associatedwith the indicated occurrence of motion sickness may be uploaded intoboth a local storage and a remotely located server and/or database forsubsequent usage. Therefore, these newly detected correlations may beused to better indicate to a vehicle situations that may cause occupantdiscomfort or motion sickness. Once these situations are identified, thevehicle may then take corrective action to prevent such motions fromoccurring again in the future, or at least mitigate their impact to onedegree or another. For example, if a camera monitors head motions of anoccupant, and a correlation is identified that undesirable head motionoccurs at a particular location in a road at a certain combination ofspeed and occupant position, the vehicle will recognize and makeadjustments to reduce head motion if the same location is visited in thefuture. This could be particularly useful for reducing vehiclediscomfort associated with particular geographic locations.

It should be understood that events and/or patterns that may increasethe likelihood and/or severity of motion sickness may be determinedusing any number of different methods for implementation in either theabove described control loop and/or in other vehicle control systems.Several exemplary embodiments of methods and/or systems for detectingand identifying such events and/or patterns are detailed further below.However, while these various embodiments are described separately, itshould be understood that these different embodiments may either bepracticed individually, together, and/or in combination with any otherappropriate detection method and system as the disclosure is not solimited.

As noted previously, in some embodiments, event patterns that affect thedynamics of a car and/or activities that are believed to increase thelikelihood or severity of motion sickness are determined and stored apriori in a local database of a vehicle and/or remotely on a remotelylocated server/database in a manner where they may be accessed and/orretrieved by a vehicle controller. These event patterns may bedetermined empirically to cause motion sickness or deemed to do so byusing predictive mathematical and/or empirical models. An event patternis a series of events that occur over a period of time and affect thedynamic state of the vehicle during that period in a manner that affectsan occupant in any number of ways. The impact on the occupant may be afunction of a number of parameters such as, for example, the details ofthe vehicle motion and the activity being performed by an occupant ofthe vehicle. These event patterns, individually or as composites ofmultiple event patterns, may be used as templates for comparison duringsubsequent vehicle operation. These templates may be compared to eventpatterns that occur, in real time, during vehicle operation to identifyevents and/or patterns that should be mitigated in some form or fashionas detailed above.

In one embodiment, a particular event pattern, that occurs over a presetthreshold time period, may be deemed to be likely to cause motionsickness based on, for example, the dynamics of a vehicle or movement ofa passenger's head and/or torso. The models may involve empirical and/ormathematical relationships. For example, in an embodiment, one cycle ofup and down motion of a vehicle body at a frequency between 0.3-0.4 Hzwith a magnitude of 0.5 cm to 2 cm may be identified as a pattern thatmay induce motion sickness. If this pattern is repeated more than apreset number of times over a period of, for example, 5 minutes, adetermination may be made that motion sickness is likely. Alternativelyor additionally, a particular vehicle motion that results in side toside movement of a passenger's head at a frequency between 0.4-0.5 Hzwith a magnitude of less than 2 cm may be identified as a pattern thatmay induce motion sickness. If this pattern is repeated more than apreset number of times over a threshold time period of, for example, 5minutes, a determination may be made that motion sickness is likely. Ofcourse, it should be understood that correlations associated withmovements of an occupant's body at different frequencies both greaterthan and less than those noted above are also contemplated. For example,a control system may monitor the torso and/or a head of an occupant todetermine if the occupant is being subjected to motions with frequenciesassociated with an increased likelihood of motion sickness includingfrequencies between or equal to about 0.05 Hz and 10 Hz as notedpreviously above.

In the above embodiments, the comparisons between the detected motionsof the vehicle and/or occupant with one or more previously identifiedevents and/or pattern templates may be based on instantaneous and/oraverage data that characterizes motion of the vehicle body, seats,and/or one or more portions of a passenger's body (e.g. torso, head,etc.) that occur over a period of time. If real time data from a vehiclematches or is similar to a previously obtained template over a certainperiod of time, for example up to 10 minutes, it may be used as anindication that there is a likelihood of motion sickness occurring on aparticular route. Data obtained when developing the templates and duringoperation may be collected using one or more sensors such as, forexample, cameras and accelerometers that capture the dynamics of thevehicle and/or one or more passengers. A determination of the likelihoodof motion sickness may be based on the rate at which the patterns arerepeated and/or the duration of the period of their occurrence.

In addition to the use of motion, a determination of increasedlikelihood of motion sickness in a vehicle occupant may be based atleast partially on physiological parameters and/or direct inputs fromthe occupant. In one such embodiment, one or more cameras may be usedfor facial recognition of one or more passengers within the vehicle, inorder to identify the passengers, as well as to measure head movementsof the one or more passengers in the vehicle as noted above. Microphones(with speech recognition) and other communication interfaces may be usedby the vehicle controller to communicate with passengers and forpassengers to communicate with the vehicle. For example, a vehicleoccupant may indicate the severity of motion sickness and/or a desiredmode of operation to the controller which may then subsequently be usedto determine appropriate motion and/or motion sickness mediationtechniques to be implemented during vehicle operation. The physiologicalstate of the one or more passengers may also be sensed includingparameters, such as galvanic skin response at various locations on aperson's body, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen and carbon dioxidelevels, hydration levels, and/or other metrics. Such physiologicalsensing may be conducted by the vehicle, or by wearable devices such asan electronic bracelet or smart watch with the appropriate sensors builttherein. In one such embodiment where physiological symptoms conductedby the vehicle, the various sensors may be integrated into a seat thatan occupant is located in such that the sensors may simply be in contactwith the occupant simply by sending seated in and/or the seat mayinclude portions that may be touched, such as in the case of electrodesgrasped by an occupant's hands, to sense the desired physiologicalparameters of the occupant.

In some embodiments, a vehicle may be equipped with sensors and/orcommunication devices, such as a Bluetooth device, a Wi-Fi connection, aplug, or any other appropriate device capable of exchanging informationwith wearable devices (such as for example smart watches), or otherequipment carried by individual passengers (such as for example smartphones and ipads). Such communication devices may also include sensorswhich may automatically collect data from individual passengers.Additionally or alternatively, information about passenger well-beingmay be collected by in-seat sensors or other sensors in, and/or on, thevehicle. Information exchanged with such devices, which may bebidirectional and/or occur privately so other passengers are unaware ofit, may include commands initiated by a particular authorized individualor may include automatically collected health, physiological, wellbeing,and/or comfort information. Information collected may, for example, beused to determine if the person is feeling symptoms of motion sickness.The information may then be used by the vehicle to automatically adjustits operation to maintain the health, wellbeing and safety of vehicleoccupants, and/or to respond to the commands from individual passengers.The vehicle may also communicate with a remote location for furtherguidance on how to respond to commands or information from individualpassengers. In emergency situations, the vehicle may divert to, forexample, the nearest appropriate hospital or police station and thehospital or police station may be notified of the situation beforearrival.

Elaborating on the embodiment of a vehicle and/or suspension systemcontroller receiving input from one or more occupants of a vehicle, acontroller of a vehicle may receive information from one or more vehicleoccupants indicating that at least one occupant is suffering from motionsickness. Additionally, the level of motion sickness of the passengermay be provided to the vehicle controller. The degree of motion sicknessmay be communicated, for example, by using a knob or a touch sensitivesurface. In one embodiment, the degree of motion sickness may bemeasured using physiological sensors, such as by comparing galvanic skinresponse (e.g. measuring sweat) in the palm of the hand with that of thedorsal part of the hand and arm. Further, in some instances, a motionsickness condition may be characterized by a rapid onset palmar sweatresponse followed by subsequent hand and arm dorsal sweat response.Cameras and/or optical sensors may also be used to collect infraredinformation to determine skin temperature of one or more passengers.

As noted previously, in some embodiments, if one or more passengersreports discomfort, such as motion sickness, a vehicle may then retain arecord of recent event patterns. Further, such event patterns may beused to update or supplement the vehicle's event pattern database/and/ormay be shared with other vehicles and/or remote servers or database. Insuch an embodiment, event patterns may be recorded continuously suchthat when an occupant communicates to a vehicle and/or suspensioncontroller that a motion sickness event has occurred, the previouslyoccurring event pattern may be stored and identified as one that causesmotion sickness in general and/or for a particular passenger. Dependingon the particular embodiment, event patterns may be recordedcontinuously for any appropriate time including, but not limited to, 1min. to 10 min. 5 min. to 10 min., 10 min. to 20 min., or any otherappropriate amount of time including time periods both greater and lessthan those noted above.

In yet another embodiment, video monitoring of one or more vehicleoccupants may again be used to determine the likelihood of motionsickness. However, in this embodiment, the eyes of a person looking atan object such as a computer screen, or other display, may be monitoredand the relative movement of the person's eyes and the display may bedetermined. Based on this information, the amount of retinal slip anoccupant is experiencing while viewing the display may be determined.The amount and/or the frequency of retinal slip and the duration of theperiod over which it occurs may be compared to predetermined thresholdsfor these quantities. Based on this comparison, motion sicknessmitigation procedures may be instituted.

The Inventors have appreciated that it may be possible to mitigatemotions transmitted to one or more portions of the vehicle by moving amass in an appropriate correction to apply a force to the desiredportion of the vehicle that opposes road induced forces and disturbancestransmitted to that portion of the vehicle. Further, the inventors haverecognized that the large mass of a battery of an electric and/or hybridvehicle, makes up a significant portion of the vehicle's weight. Forexample, Electric vehicles (EVs) and many hybrid-electric vehicles(HEVs) require extensive onboard electricity storage capacity, andbatteries used for this purpose are typically quite heavy. Specifically,in a Tesla Model S, the Lithium Ion battery pack weighs approximately1,200-1,500 pounds, which represents approximately 25%-33% of the curbweight of the vehicle. Therefore, in some embodiments, movement of abattery relative to one or more portions of a vehicle, can be utilizedto at least partially control the motion of the vehicle body, orsub-portion thereof, in order to improve the ride quality for theoccupants and/or loads located within the vehicle. Of course, whilemoving a battery pack relative to other portions of the vehicle tomitigate motions transmitted to those portions of a vehicle has beendiscussed above, it should be understood that the current disclosure isnot limited to only using batteries. For example, embodiments in whichother components having a sufficient mass are used to mitigate motiontransmitted to a particular portion of a vehicle are also contemplatedas the current disclosure is not so limited.

In the above embodiment, the mass moved relative to one or more portionsof the vehicle may have any appropriate mass. However, in oneembodiment, the mass may be greater than or equal to about 20%, 30%,40%, or any other appropriate percentage of a vehicle's weight.Correspondingly, the mass may be less than or equal to about 60%, 50%,40%, or any other appropriate percentage of a vehicle's weight.Combinations of the above ranges are contemplated including, forexample, a mass with a weight between or equal to about 20% and 50% of avehicle's weight. Of course, masses with weights both less than andgreater than those noted above are also contemplated as the disclosureis not limited in this fashion.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic of a prior art construction of anelectric or hybrid-electric vehicle 301 where a vehicle passive orsemi-active suspension 302 is disposed between one or more wheels of thevehicle and a corresponding vehicle chassis (or undercarriage) 303 suchthat the chassis or undercarriage is supported by the suspension. Insimilar fashion, the chassis or undercarriage 303 typically supports andis fixedly attached to a battery 304 located within the vehicle body.The vehicle also includes a passenger compartment 305 supported by thevehicle chassis.

FIG. 13 illustrates an alternative prior art construction of an electricor hybrid-electric vehicle 301. Again, in the depicted embodiment, asuspension system 302 is disposed between the chassis or undercarriage303 and the one or more wheels 306 such that the suspension systemsupports the vehicle body. However, in this embodiment, a battery 304 islocated under, and fixedly attached to, the chassis (or undercarriage)as might be done to facilitate easy access and/or replacement of thebattery. The passenger compartment 305 is fixedly attached to thechassis (or undercarriage).

While two wheel assemblies are shown in the embodiments, each includinga damper and a spring, it should be understood that other types ofsuspension systems may be associated with each wheel. For example, intypical vehicles, the suspension system may be a passive or semi-activesuspension system. Additionally, electric vehicles and hybrid electricvehicles typically have three or four wheels, though vehicles such aselectric or hybrid electric motorcycles with only two wheel assembliesare also contemplated.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle 320 where one or moreportions of a vehicle body such as a chassis (or undercarriage) 321 aswell as other associated components such as a battery 322, or othermass, are attached to, and supported by, a primary suspension system323. In the depicted embodiment, the primary suspension system isdisposed between the vehicle body and one or more wheels 328. While theprimary suspension system is shown as a passive suspension system, itshould be understood that the current disclosure is not so limited. Forexample, a passive, semi-active, or fully active primary suspensionsystem may be used. Further, in some embodiments, the active suspensionmay be electrohydraulic or electromagnetic. Similar to the abovevehicles, the vehicle also includes a passenger compartment 324 that isfixed relative to the battery and/or chassis assembly. Further, it maybe desirable to include one or more secondary suspension systems 325disposed between at least second and third portions of the vehicle suchas a passenger compartment 324 and one or more separate structures 326associated with the passenger compartment such as a chair and/or a worksurface (e.g. a table or a desk) located within the passengercompartment.

In the embodiment depicted in the figure, the vehicle may also includeone or more sensors 327 a, 327 b, and 327 c which may be located eitherwithin an interior and/or on an exterior of a vehicle. Further, thesesensors may be used to collect information, such as, for example, one ormore of, the absolute values or relative acceleration, velocity andposition of various portions of the vehicle including for example, thevehicle chassis (or undercarriage) 321, one or more wheel assemblies327, the passenger compartment 324, and/or the one or more separatestructures 326 associated with the passenger compartment 324. While theseparate structure 326 is shown to be outside the passenger compartment324 for the sake of clarity, it should be understood that the one ormore structures may be located within and, in some embodiments,encompassed by, the passenger compartment 324.

One or more controllers, such as the suspension system controllers 329 aand 329 b may be in electrical communication with the primary andsecondary suspension systems 323 and 325 respectively. Alternatively, acentral vehicle and/or suspension system controller may be in electricalwith the various suspension systems of the vehicle. Additionally, eachsuspension system may either be controlled by a central controllerand/or a distributed control system including a plurality of controllerswith each separate actuator and/or damper associated with a separatecontroller that, in some embodiments, may be in electrical communicationwith a central control system of the vehicle. In either case, acontroller may operate the primary and/or secondary suspension systems,as well as any other suspension system of the vehicle, to control themotion of the structure, passenger compartment, and/or vehicle body.Further, depending on the embodiment, oscillations, or other motions,attenuated by the primary suspension system 323 and those attenuated bythe secondary suspension system 325 may be over the same or differentfrequency ranges. For example, the primary suspension system may be usedto primarily reduce motions in a frequency range that is greater than aprimary frequency range of the secondary suspension system. In one suchembodiment, the primary suspension system may reduce motions in afrequency range between or equal to about 2 Hz-20 Hz to a greater degreethan the secondary suspension system. Accordingly, the secondarysuspension system may be used to reduce motions in a frequency rangebetween or equal to about the 0.5 Hz and 2 Hz to a greater degree thanthe primary suspension system. Of course, as noted previously, theprimary and secondary suspension systems may be operated relative toeach other in different frequency ranges both greater than and less thanthose noted above.

FIG. 15 illustrates another embodiment of vehicle 320 where the chassis(or undercarriage) 321 is supported by primary suspension system 323. Ateach wheel assembly 328, a spring 323 a and a passive damper 323 b areinterposed between the wheel assembly and the chassis (orundercarriage). Depending on the particular embodiment, the passivedamper may be replaced by a semi-active damper and/or any appropriatetype of fully active actuator. In addition to the primary suspensionsystem, a separate portion of the vehicle such as the passengercompartment or cab 324, may also be supported by a secondary suspensionsystem which may be a fully active suspension system. Though embodimentsin which a passive and/or semi-active suspension system is used are alsocontemplated.

In the case of an electric, or hybrid electric, vehicle a vehiclebattery 322 with a relatively large mass is associated with the vehiclebody. Therefore, road disturbances transmitted to the vehicle bodythrough the associated wheel assemblies may be at least partiallyattenuated by the large battery mass before they are transmitted to thepassenger compartment or cab 324. Accordingly, the amount of damping ordisturbance mitigation that may be required of a secondary activesuspension system 325 may be less than in other embodiments. As aresult, a smaller and less powerful secondary suspension system may beused. Of course, while the use of a relatively large battery mass hasbeen described above for helping to mitigate motions transmitted to apassenger compartment, embodiments in which a different type of mass,such as a vehicle load and/or a portion of the vehicle, is used to helpmitigate motion transmitted to the vehicle cab are also contemplated.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle 320 where a chassis (orundercarriage) 321 is supported by primary suspension system 323. Ateach wheel assembly 328, a spring 323 a and a passive damper 323 b areinterposed between the wheel assembly and the chassis (orundercarriage). However, it should be understood that the passivedampers may be replaced by a semi-active damper or any type of fullyactive actuator. The passenger compartment or cab 324 is supported by asecondary suspension system 325 which is interposed between it and thechassis (or undercarriage) 321. In this embodiment, the secondarysuspension system is a passive system, although semi-active and fullyactive suspension systems may also be used.

In addition to the primary and secondary suspension systems, in thedepicted embodiment, a large mass, which in this embodiment may be abattery 322 of an electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle, may besuspended from, or supported by, the passenger compartment or cab 324using third suspension system 330 located between the mass and thepassenger compartment. In one embodiment, the third suspension systemincludes one or more active actuator s 330 b and one or more springs 330a. In the depicted embodiment, the actuator is an electromagneticactuator although other active actuators may be used including, forexample, an electro-mechanical and/or electrohydraulic actuator.Depending on the particular application, the actuator may be constructedand operated to reduce motions applied to the passenger cab within oneor more frequency ranges such as Alternatively, the actuator may bereplaced with a damper so that the battery mass operates as a tuned massdamper, but such a damper will be effective over a more narrow range offrequencies than is possible with an active actuator.

FIG. 17 depicts an embodiment of vehicle 320 where the chassis (orundercarriage) 321 is supported by a primary suspension system 323. Ateach wheel assembly 328, a spring 323 a and passive damper 323 b of thesuspension system are interposed between the wheel assembly and thechassis (or undercarriage). Of course, similar to the other embodiments,the passive dampers may be replaced by a semi-active damper or any typeof fully active actuator. In this particular embodiment, the passengercompartment or cab 324 is attached to the chassis (or undercarriage)without a suspension system disposed there between. However, embodimentsin which a secondary suspension system is located between the passengercompartment and chassis are also contemplated.

A mass, which in this embodiment may be a large battery, is divided intotwo or more masses 322 a and 322 b where each is suspended from, orotherwise supported, by the chassis (or undercarriage) 321. Each mass isattached to the chassis (or undercarriage) through a suspension systemlocated between the masses and the vehicle body using, for example,springs 330 b and 332 b and by actuators 330 a and 332 a. Accordingly,forces exerted on the chassis (or undercarriage) may be at leastpartially mitigated by inducing a relative motion between the chassisand either a portion of the total mass (i.e. moving one or moreindividual masses or batteries) or the entire mass (i.e. moving all ofthe masses or batteries). Again this relative motion of the one or moremasses relative to the chassis will apply a force to the chassis, orother portion of the vehicle it is associated with, which may becontrolled to at least partially mitigate motion transmitted to thevehicle by road disturbances.

In addition to the above, in the depicted embodiment, the battery massis shown as being broken up into two equal masses. Alternatively, themass may be kept whole or it may be broken up into a plurality of masseswith either equal or different masses as the disclosure is not solimited. For example, a large battery may be broken up into differentbattery packs with different total electrical capacities and masses, thesame capacities and masses, and/or maintained as a single unit.

FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate yet another embodiment of a vehicle 320 wherethe chassis (or undercarriage) 321 is supported by primary suspensionsystem 323. At each wheel assembly 328, spring 323 a and passive damper323 b are interposed between the wheel assembly and the chassis (orundercarriage) though embodiments in which semi-active and/or activesuspension systems are used are also contemplated. In some embodiments,a secondary suspension system may also be located between the vehiclechassis and the passenger compartment or cab 324 of the vehicle. Inaddition to the various suspension systems, a lateral stabilizationsystem may be used to reduce, or eliminate lateral motions relative tothe ground of one or more portions of the vehicle. The lateralstabilization system in the depicted embodiment includes one or morecables 340 a, 340 b, 340 c, and 340 d that may be attached to and extendbetween posts fixed relative to the chassis 342 a, 342 b, 342 c, and 342d as well as one or more posts 344 fixed relative to the passengercompartment or other portion of the vehicle.

FIG. 19 depicts the relationship of the stability cables and the fourposts 342 a, 342 b, 342 c, and 342 d attached to a chassis (orundercarriage) and the post 344 that is attached to the passengercompartment or cab. In the depicted embodiment, the four posts fixedrelative to the chassis are located towards a center of each side of thevehicle chassis, though any appropriate location may be used as well.Correspondingly, the post fixed relative to the passenger compartment islocated towards a center of the passenger compartment, though againother appropriate locations may also be used. One or more cables 340a-340 d extend between the posts associated with the chassis and the oneor more posts associated with the passenger compartment. In thisparticular embodiment, two cables extend between each post of thechassis and the central post associated with the passenger compartment.

The cables may be sufficiently stiff to reduce, or prevent, lateralmovement of the passenger compartment relative to the vehicle chassis.This may either be due to appropriate tensioning of the cables as wellas their structural properties and/or one or more springs and/oractuators may be located in line with the cables to provide a desiredamount of stiffness to the cables. In one embodiment where actuators arelocated in line with the cables, the stiffness, and correspondinglateral stabilization of the passenger compartment relative to thechassis may be dynamically varied. For example, the tensioning of one ormore cables relative to the other cables may be used to displace thepassenger compartment in a desired direction.

The above embodiment uses posts associated with various portions of thevehicle, such as the chassis and passenger compartment, for attachingone or more cables. However, it should be understood that anyappropriate attachment point to a particular portion of a vehicle may beused including, but not limited to, clamps, interlocking components,through holes, interferences between portions of the vehicle portion andan end of a cable, or any other appropriate configuration capable ofattaching a cable to a vehicle portion as the disclosure is not solimited.

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate another embodiment of vehicle 320 where achassis (or undercarriage) 321 is supported by primary suspension system323 and a passenger compartment 324 that is at least partially supportedby a corresponding secondary suspension system 325. The depictedembodiment also includes a lateral stability system. However, instead ofincluding a series of posts and cables, one or more ball joint linkages346 a-346 c extending between one or more posts 342 a-342 c associatedwith the vehicle chassis and the one or more posts 344 associated withthe passenger compartment may be used to restrict movement of thepassenger cab in in the lateral x and y directions relative to theground while still allowing movement in the vertical z directionrelative to the ground. Depending on the particular embodiment, the balljoint linkages may correspond to rods or other rigid structuresextending between ball joints connected to the posts or otherwiseattached to the chassis and/or passenger compartment. Further, dependingon the embodiment, the ball joints may include some amount of frictionto provide a desired response, though it should be understood that theball joints may be designed to provide any desired performancecharacteristic as the disclosure is not limited to any particular balljoint design.

FIG. 22 depicts yet another embodiment of a vehicle 320 including aprimary suspension system 323 located between a vehicle chassis 321 andone or more wheels 328. Additionally, a secondary suspension system 325may be located between the vehicle chassis and a passenger compartment324. However, in this particular embodiment, a scissor linkage 348 isalso located between, and attached to, the passenger compartment and thevehicle chassis. The scissor linkage permits movement of the passengerin the vertical z direction, but limits, or eliminates, motions in thelateral x and y directions relative to the ground. To facilitatemovement in this type of linkage, rubber gaskets or similar materialgaskets may be used at each joint.

Again, while the above embodiments have been primarily directed tovehicles including batteries and/or autonomous vehicles, it should beunderstood that non-electric vehicles including another large mass mayalso be controlled in a similar manner to the embodiments disclosedabove. Additionally, the various control systems and methods describedherein may be used with any of an autonomous, a semi-autonomous, and/ora conventionally driven vehicle as the disclosure is not so limited.

Depending on the particular embodiment, the suspension systems describedherein may correspond to any number of configurations. For example, insome embodiments, suspension systems may be configured with three orfour spring/damper or spring/actuator pairs supporting the cornersand/or sides of a platform or structure. Alternatively, for example, sixactuators may be configured in a hexapod arrangement and may be used tocontrol the motion of a platform with six degrees of freedom. Differentsuspension configurations may also be used in the same vehicle. Forexample, active suspension actuator/spring pairs may be interposedbetween the vehicle body and each wheel assembly to control the relativemotion between the vehicle body and the wheels. In the same vehicle, forexample, six active actuators may be arranged in a hexapod arrangementand interposed between the vehicle body and the passenger compartment tocontrol the motion of the passenger compartment relative to the vehiclebody. Additionally, in some embodiments, a hexapod system, or otherappropriate suspension system, may be used to control the motion of astructure in the passenger compartment as well.

FIG. 23 illustrates a schematic of a vehicle 430 with a first primarysuspension system 431 disposed between a chassis 34 and one or morewheel assemblies 435 a and 435 b of the vehicle. In this particularembodiment, a second and third secondary suspension systems 432 and 433may also be used to isolate different portions of the vehicle frommotions transmitted thereto through the chassis. Specifically, thesecond suspension system 432 is interposed between the chassis and apassenger compartment and the third suspension system supports astructure 437 which is located within the passenger compartment such asa passenger seat. Again, the various suspension systems may be active,semi-active, passive, and/or appropriate combinations of the forgoing.Also, for active suspensions systems the damper/actuators may beelectro-hydraulic, electro-magnetic, electro-mechanical, or any otherappropriate type of active system. Additionally, the various suspensionsystems may be operated in concert or independently as well as either inthe same frequency ranges, different frequency ranges, and/or inpartially overlapping frequency ranges as the disclosure is not solimited.

FIG. 24 illustrates a hexapod mechanism with six actuators 41 a-41 f.The hexapod may be used to control the motion of an associated structurethat it supports with 6 degrees of freedom. Again, a hexapod mechanismmay be used to support, for example, a passenger compartment, a seat, adesk, or any other appropriate structure located within or forming aportion of the vehicle.

FIG. 25 illustrates one embodiment of a structure 450 that includes aseat 451 and/or a work surface 452 supported by dedicated suspensionsystem 453.

In autonomous vehicles, passengers are typically unaware of when thevehicle is going to perform certain maneuvers and even the nature ofwhat those maneuvers will be. For example, passengers of an autonomousvehicle may not know when or in what direction the vehicle is going toturn, when it is going to decelerate or speed up, and when it is goingto change lanes. Also, occupants of an autonomous vehicle may be morelikely to be facing away from the direction of travel or be occupiedwith other tasks. These conditions may lead to vehicle occupants feelingdisconnected from vehicular motion and driving decisions which may leadto an increased likelihood of motion sickness. Therefore, to reduce theoccurrence and/or severity of motion sickness in occupants of a vehicle,it may be desirable to provide one or more cues to one or more vehicleoccupants regarding upcoming vehicle maneuvers and/or road conditions.For example, in some embodiments, an autonomous vehicle may be operatedto provide various cues or information to passengers about upcomingmaneuvers in order to increase occupant comfort. As detailed furtherbelow, any number of different cues might be used to communicationinformation to a vehicle occupant including, but not limited to, vehiclepitch, roll, and/or heave. In some embodiments, information aboutimpending or current maneuvers may also be communicated to passengers byother means such as, for example, by providing visual, acoustic, hapticand/or tactile cues. In this way, a passenger may be aware of what toexpect before or while the vestibular system reacts to vehiclemaneuvers.

In one embodiment, the above noted warnings or cues may be providedwhenever the vehicle is operating autonomously or under certaincircumstances, such as for example, if it is determined that certainevent patterns are present that may be conducive to motion sickness forat least one occupant in the vehicle. These visual, acoustic, hapticand/or tactile cues may be provided using a display in the vehicle,light arrays, sound system speakers, an active suspension system, and/orother devices and modalities. Additionally, as detailed further below,in some instances, displays used for presenting information to theoccupants may be controlled to shift a location of images presented onthe display to better correspond with movement of a vehicle and/oroccupant with the vehicle. This transformation may occur based onaccelerometer data from a centralized inertial measurement unit (IMU),sensors from an active suspension system, and/or sensors monitoringmovement of an occupant's body and/or their eyes.

In addition to the above, depending on the particular embodiment,passengers may be warned of all vehicle events and/or maneuvers or theymay be informed regarding a subset of events and/or maneuvers that may,for example, be expected or predicted to produce discomfort, such asmotion sickness, above a predetermined threshold level.

During operation, the overall path (e.g. road choices) that anautonomous and/or a semi-autonomous vehicle will take is typicallydetermined before the vehicle proceeds on the path. This knowledge canbe used by a vehicle controller to forewarn vehicle occupants aboutcertain maneuvers which may help to alleviate or reduce the occurrenceof motion sickness within the vehicle occupants. In one such embodiment,for example, vehicle occupants may be informed of a direction and/ormagnitude of an upcoming turn by, for example, the controller causingthe vehicle to gradually “lean into” the turn (i.e. roll toward thecenter of the turn) a certain distance before the turn begins. However,roll in the opposite direction, away from the center of the turn, mayalso be utilized. This “lean” may communicate to passengers that thevehicle is about to turn as well as the direction of the turn. Theinterval by which this cue precedes the turn and the degree to which thevehicle rolls may be set by an occupant or selected by the controllerbased on the speed of the vehicle and/or the magnitude of the turn basedon rules established prior to the turn. Similarly, in a relatedembodiment, an active suspension system may be used to pitch the vehiclein either a fore or aft direction when anticipating an acceleration ordeceleration. For example, a vehicle may be pitched in a fore directionwhen it experiences a forward acceleration and/or the vehicle may bepitched in an aft direction, i.e. lean back, when anticipating a brakingevent. Such leaning maneuvers may, for example, be conducted prior toand/or during the control input to the vehicle, and may be sustained ormodified over time, and in some embodiments may continue beyond thecontrol input in the vehicle.

While any appropriate time duration and magnitude may be used in theabove embodiment, in one embodiment, an anticipatory roll and/or pitchof the vehicle may be between or equal to about 1 to 3 degrees which maybe in the direction of an anticipated turn, i.e. positive roll. Further,the anticipatory notice may be given between or equal to about 1 to 3seconds before the expected event. Of course angles and durations bothgreater and less than those noted above may also be applied as thedisclosure is not so limited.

FIG. 26 illustrates the rear view of an embodiment of an autonomousvehicle under three different conditions. In all three cases the vehicleis moving forward. Vehicle 460 a depicts a vehicle with an activesuspension system traveling a straight course down a road where no cueis given to a vehicle occupant. Conversely, vehicle 460 b illustratesthe vehicle active suspension system rolling the vehicle to the right soas to signal to the occupants that a right turn is imminent, whilevehicle 460 c illustrates the vehicle active suspension system rollingthe vehicle to the left so as to signal to the occupants that a leftturn is imminent. In some embodiments, vehicle occupants may preferand/or the vehicle may provide, cues that are opposite in direction tothose in FIG. 26 . Additionally, other motions, or other types offeedback, may be used to indicate any number of different vehiclemaneuvers as the disclosure is not limited in this regard.

As noted previously, in some embodiments, haptic signals, i.e. signalsthat may be sensed by individuals through their sense of touch, may beat least partially generated by one or more active suspension actuatorsinducing motion in at least a portion of a vehicle to generatevibrations and/or bumps perceptible to one or more occupants of thevehicle. These haptic warnings may be given in addition to, or insteadof, visual and/or acoustic warnings. Additionally, these haptic signalsmay be more easily perceived in a situation where there is a great dealof ambient noise or a driver is hard of hearing or is otherwisedistracted. Therefore, these haptic signals may be used to communicatevarious types of information to the vehicle occupants and/or driver. Forexample, during a lane change maneuver, one or more active suspensionactuators may be used to introduce vibration of a predetermined constantor variable frequency and/or amplitude to warn a driver that there is anapproaching vehicle in the lane being entered. The approaching vehiclemay be detected using any appropriate type of sensor including, but notlimited to, cameras, radar, LIDAR, ultrasonic, infrared range detectors,or any other appropriate sensor. Additionally, these warnings may bedirectional. For example, if the driver is moving into a lane to theright of the travel lane and a car is approaching in that lane, one ormore actuators on a side of the vehicle directed towards the approachingvehicle (i.e. the right side) may be activated by a controller tointroduce the desired vibration to warn the driver of both theapproaching vehicle and it's direction.

The frequency and amplitude of a motion induced in a portion of avehicle may be selected by a controller based on the level of dangerinvolved. For example, if an accident is highly likely if a maneuver,such as a lane change or turn, is completed, the vibration may be moreintense, such as having a higher amplitude and/or frequency, than if thedanger is not as severe. For example, the frequency and/or amplitude mayalso be varied depending on, for example, the vehicle speed, relativevelocity of approaching vehicle, and/or distance to approaching vehicle.Warnings may also be given under other circumstances when a vehicle isin danger of crashing into an obstruction such as when a vehicle isbacking up and/or parking. In such an embodiment, vibrations and/or abump may be induced by the actuators, for example that are nearest theobstruction. The vibrations and/or bump may be applied with increasingfrequency and/or magnitude as the obstruction is approached by thevehicle and/or for larger velocities of the vehicle towards theobstruction. Other circumstances where haptic warning may be given are,for example, when a vehicle is backing out of a driveway. Specifically,the left rear actuator of a vehicle may be activated if there is a carapproaching from the left while the right rear actuator may be activatedif a vehicle is approaching from the right. In yet another embodiment,the active suspension system may be use to convey a “drowsiness alert”to a driver of a vehicle. This alert may come in the form of a heave,roll, pitch, and/or a combination of these movements. Further, thedrowsiness of a driver may be determined through sensors monitoring oneor more of erratic steering, acceleration, and/or braking inputs as wellas lane drifting of the vehicle. Therefore, once one or more of thesemonitored quantities exceeds a threshold level, the “drowsiness alert”may be applied to the vehicle using one or more active suspensionsystem. In yet another embodiment, the active suspension system of avehicle may be used to warn a vehicle operator when the vehicle isoverloaded or a load is out of balance as sensed using one or more loadsensors associated with the wheels and/or sensors associated with theactive suspension system itself.

In some embodiments, vehicle occupants may be informed or warned by, forexample, haptic signals or audible signals generated by the activesuspension system. For example a virtual rumble strip may be used tosimulate physical rumble strips, by causing at least a portion of avehicle to vibrate at a predetermined frequency under certainsituations. Virtual rumble strips may be used, for example, to alert adriver that the vehicle is drifting out of a travel lane. The inducedvibration may be at a rate, for example, between or equal to about 30 Hzto 80 Hz with magnitudes between or equal to about 0.1 cm and 0.5 cmthough other frequency ranges and magnitudes both greater and less thanthese ranges may also be used. In some embodiments, the haptic signalsmay be pulsed, with the length and time between the pulses proportionalto vehicle speed. An active suspension system may induce thesevibrations by rapidly changing the forces applied to the associatedportions of the vehicle such as the wheels and chassis of a vehicle. Insome embodiments, when the vehicle is operating in an autonomous orsemi-autonomous mode, there may be instances where the vehicle may needto return control to the driver for reasons such as sensor fault data,poor location sensing, conflicting information, undefined situation. Insuch situations, the active suspension may activate the actuators tocreate motion to alert the driver, such as for example, toward the frontof the vehicle (e.g. a forward pitch, vibrations of the forwardactuators, etc.) to guide the driver's attention to the road ahead.

In the above embodiments, different frequencies may be used to conveydifferent information. Additionally, vibrations may be induced in one ormore structures in the vehicle or the entire vehicle. For example,individual segments of the vehicle such as the steering wheel or one ormore arm rests of an occupant's seat may be made to vibrate with otheractuators to provide cues to the occupants of an autonomous vehicleprior to when the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop, makes a turn, orperforms another maneuver.

In addition to providing haptic cues to one or more vehicle occupants,in some embodiments, an active suspension system of a vehicle maycommunicate with a person by implementing certain movements that can beinterpreted as gestures by a person outside the vehicle. For example, adetector may be used to read a personal identification device beingcarried or worn by a person, and/or a facial recognition device may beused to identify a person in the vicinity of the vehicle. The vehicle'sresponse may include, for example, a gesture that resembles kneeling orother welcoming motion. To perform this gesture and communicate thegreeting, the active suspension system may be used to adopt a posturewhere the front corner of the vehicle nearest the person is lowered tosimulate a kneeling posture. While such gestures may be used with anyvehicle, in embodiments where the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, sucha gesture may be made when picking up a passenger. Additionally, othergestures may be used such a high frequency vibration as a greeting ormessage that the vehicle is at its destination or needs to be refueled.Movements may also be induced in the vehicle body to direct theattention of one or more occupants to another communication device foradditional information such as a display, a telephone with an incomingcall or message, and/or any other appropriate device of interest.Additionally, a vehicle gesture may be commanded in a vehicle to help aperson find a vehicle in, for example a parking lot. Gestures may alsobe used to, for example, signal the start of a vehicle (such as anelectric vehicle), to identify correct ride sharing vehicle at a pickuppoint, to confirm a transaction, to confirm if a vehicle fuel tank isfull or the battery is charged, to confirm if vehicle tires are, or arenot, properly inflated and/or to indicate other safety concerns.

In some embodiments, an autonomous vehicle may be equipped with entryassist. Based on a user profile, communication with a vehicle throughwearable technology, vehicle access technology, or other personalidentification technology, or by receiving a command from a personinside or outside the vehicle, a vehicle may be placed in an entryassist mode. Entry assist operating mode may include placing the vehiclein a particular position where entry is made easier. For example, if aperson intending to enter the vehicle has an injury, or is disabled, thevehicle may be lowered to a height where entry by the person may be lessstrenuous.

In some embodiments, vehicle sensors such as optical or infrared cameraslocated within and outside the vehicle may detect gestures of occupantsand/or persons located outside of the vehicle as commands or signals.For example, occupants may use certain predetermined and/or prerecordedhand or body gestures to lock or unlock doors. Additionally, in someembodiments, such gestures by recognized persons made be used to alsoalter various settings in the vehicle. Persons may be recognized ashaving authorization to make these changes either through facialrecognition, an input pass code, a pass code gesture detected by thevehicle, or any appropriate type of identification method and/or device.

In addition to using vehicle gestures for greetings and communicatinginformation, in some embodiments, the active suspension system of avehicle may be used to induce motion in a vehicle that is at leastpartially covered with snow in order to clear at least some of the snowfrom the vehicle. The induced motion may be a rocking or shaking motionat various frequencies in one or more bands ranging from about 1 Hz to10 Hz, although other frequencies both greater than and less than thosenoted above may be used as the disclosure is not so limited. This snowremoval process may be controlled from outside the vehicle by, forexample, means of a key fob or a cell phone application in wirelesscommunication with the vehicle through a blue tooth or a wirelessnetwork connection. In some embodiments, the snow clearing routine oralgorithm may actuate other vehicle devices such as defrosters and HVACsystem when activated in addition to operation of the active suspensionsystem. Depending on the embodiment, the induced motion may include atleast one motion type. For example, a routine or algorithm can firstturn on defrosters and warm HVAC, then a first low frequency large bodymotion may be induced, and then a higher frequency smaller amplitudefrequency may be induced.

FIGS. 27A-27D illustrate how an active suspension system may be used to“shake” off snow from a vehicle. FIG. 27A shows the vehicle prior to thestart of the shaking motion. FIGS. 27B-D illustrate the vehicle withdifferent degrees of snow removal due to shaking and or rocking of thevehicle with the active suspension system during the shaking process.

It should be understood that the various movements and gestures notedabove may be accomplished by actuating one or more actuators of theactive suspension system either together, singly, in succession, or inany other appropriate manner to produce the desired gesture or movement.The gestures may be preprogrammed by the vehicle manufacturer, selectedor designed by a vehicle operator using, for example, a user interface.Of course, the use of one or more active suspension systems tocommunicate information may be in addition to, or instead of, othermeans of communicating information to a person, inside or outside thevehicle, including a sound source, a light source, and/or a tactilesignal generator.

In some embodiments, one or more gestures may be activate by a vehicleoccupant and/or driver pressing a button, physical or electronic, in thevehicle. Such a button may be located at any convenient location in thevehicle such as, for example on the dashboard, arm rest, a console,and/or a steering wheel.

In some embodiments, in certain circumstances, a vehicle may assume aposture when activated, either automatically or in response to a signalor command from a vehicle operator, or other authorized person. Thesecircumstances may include for example, when the vehicle is parked and/orlocked. The posture assumed in this case may be that suspension system(which may include a height adjustment actuator) lowers the vehiclecloser to the ground in order to for example achieve a sporty look. Inother embodiments, the vehicle may be raised depending on vehicleoperator and/or owner preference.

In some embodiments, when an active suspension system is used to movethe vehicle while it is parked and/or while it is moving, sensors may beused to determine the proximity of people, animals, or stationaryobjects such as walls or other cars relative to the vehicle. Undercircumstances when a person, animal, or object is within a certainthreshold distance from the vehicle, the motion induced by the activesuspension system may be limited or disabled. FIG. 28 illustrates twovehicles 560 and 561. Various proximity and infrared sensors may be usedto detect presence of inanimate objects and people or animals within acertain distance from the vehicle. For example, sensors in vehicle 561may be used to disable or limit the capability of the active suspensionsystem to induce motion in the vehicle because of the presence of aperson 562, a dog 563, and/or the other vehicle being within a thresholddistance D_(th). Additionally, in some embodiments, the activesuspension system may be prevented from inducing motion in the vehicleif one or more doors and/or one or more windows are open. Alternatively,in another embodiment, the amplitude of the motion induced by the activesuspension system may be limited to a preset threshold if one or moredoors and/or one or more windows are open.

As described above, an active suspension system may be used to controlboth movement and positioning of one or more portions of a vehicle.Further, in some embodiments, electric vehicles or other types ofvehicles may be equipped with an inductive recharging coil that ismounted, for example, on the undercarriage of the vehicle. During awireless charging process, this coil receives electrical energy from aprimary coil mounted on a road surface or parking space. In response todetermining an appropriate proximate primary coil, the vehicle's activesuspension system and/or height adjustment system may be used to lowerthe vehicle from a first height to a second height closer to the groundto bring the coils into closer proximity for a more efficient chargingprocess. FIG. 29 illustrates one embodiment of an electric vehicle 570equipped with inductive recharging coils. Specifically, coil 571 isembedded in, or disposed on, the road or parking surface, while thesecondary coil 572 is attached to the vehicle. An active suspensionsystem and/or vehicle height adjustment system may be used to lower thevehicle to achieve more efficient energy transfer between the coilsduring charging. Subsequently after charging, the active suspensionsystem and/or vehicle height adjustment system may be used to raise thevehicle to a normal operational height. This selective change in thevehicle height is illustrated by the two sided arrow H in the figure.

Through the use of sensors coupled to one or more vehicle systems,failure or abnormal operation of one or more vehicle systems may bedetected and communicated to vehicle occupants, and/or communicated to aremote location. Through the use of pattern recognition related to longterm component behavior, the performance of one or more major componentsmay be monitored. For example, if the thermal behavior of a pump withinan active suspension system is monitored long term and is observed tooperate outside a normal range for at least a threshold time period, itmay be flagged as being in a possible fault condition. Error reports maybe communicated to the vehicle occupants, for example if a suspensioncomponent should be replaced, through in-vehicle notifications orthrough an error report sent to a mobile device or email. In anotherembodiment, a controller of the vehicle may transmit an error report toa remotely located server and/or database where it may be stored and/orcompared with reports from other vehicles and/or earlier reports fromthe same vehicle to identify possible failure modes.

In some embodiments, an autonomous vehicle may be configured to store ahistorical record of the performance and response characteristics of oneor more suspension and/or other components, such as for example, anactuator pump. This data may include, for example, the torque generatedby the electric motor of an actuator as a function of various vehicleoperating conditions and environmental conditions. The collected datamay also include, for example, hydraulic motor speed, power produced byan actuator (instantaneous and average), power consumed by an actuator(instantaneous and average), vehicle body acceleration, pressure in thedamper, hydraulic oil temperature, steering wheel position, damperposition, vehicle position (yaw, etc.), brake pedal position, and wheelspeed (linear and angular). Collected data may be in either the time orfrequency domain. For example, data collected at a certain point in timemay be compared to data collected at an earlier time, to data collectedafter repairs or component replacement, factory-stored data in alookup-table, and/or to data collected when the vehicle was new. Datacollected at one wheel may also be compared to data collected at one ormore other wheels of the vehicle. For example, the data collected at aback wheel may be compared to data collected at a front wheel on thesame side of the vehicle after a time offset that is dependent onvehicle speed. For example, after an event and performance metric of thefirst wheel has been determined, the known distance between the wheelsmay be used to identify the corresponding time period where the secondwheel encountered the same event. The data associated with theidentified time period of the second wheel may be compared with thecorresponding data from the first wheel. Then, based at least partiallyon these comparisons, various flags may be set, warning lightsilluminated, and/or other warning devices used to inform occupants orrepair personnel about possible malfunction or faulty operation. Forexample, unexpected differences between recorded performance metricssuch as differences in applied pressures, force, durations of appliedforces, rates of change in applied force, and/or any other appropriatemetric may indicate faulty operation of one or both of the portions ofthe active suspension system associated with the noted wheel assemblies.

In some embodiments, certain components in the system may also beconfigured to compensate for a poorly performing component. For example,if it is determined that there is increased leakage in a hydraulic pumpof an actuator, the system may cause the pump to operate at higherspeeds under certain operating conditions to compensate for the leakagein addition to possibly communicating the condition to a vehicleoccupant and/or operator using an appropriate indicator light and/oruser-interface.

In one embodiment, an active safety suspension system may includemultiple active suspension actuators configured to detect a faultcondition and/or abnormal operation of one or more of the actuators.Abnormal operation of an actuator may be caused by, for example, loss ofpartial or total power to the actuator controller, degradation of theactuator itself, communication breakdown between various elements of thesystem, and/or a sensor malfunction. This abnormal operation may lead toundesirable or unsafe vehicle performance, such as for example,understeering or over-steering. Upon detecting an abnormal operation ofan actuator, the active safety suspension system may alter the operatingcharacteristics of one or more other active suspension actuators tocompensate for the underperforming unit. For example, if due to the lossof power to one actuator controller, that actuator may then be operatedin a mode such that it performs as a semi-active or passive shockabsorber. The vehicle controller and/or suspension system controller maysubsequently operate one or more of the other actuators in a semi-activeor passive operation mode as well.

In one particular embodiment, one or more sensors on a wheel assemblymay be used to detect when a wheel is out of balance or out of round. Anout of balance wheel is an assembly of all the rotating components inthe un-sprung mass including the tire, the wheel, the wheel hub, and thebrake rotor, plus smaller but important components such as the fastenersconnecting the wheel to the hub, the valve stem and pressure sensor inthe tire, wheel speed sensor components, and other appropriatecomponents. The out of balance wheel assembly may be considered out ofbalance because of the mass distribution in the radial direction fromthe center of mass is not aligned along the axis of rotation of thewheel assembly, causing uneven centrifugal forces when the wheel isrotating. An out of round wheel is a tire and wheel assembly whoseradial distance from the axis of rotation of the wheel assembly is notconstant as a function of angular position about its axis of rotation.

As the wheel assembly rotates, its mass moves in a substantiallycircular path around the axis of rotation. The presence of a massimbalance causes a corresponding centrifugal force imbalance to appearon the hub. The centrifugal force will have a preferential directionthat will appear to rotate with the angular position of the wheelassembly around the axis of rotation. If the vertical component of thisforce is measured, it will appear to have a strong sinusoidal componentsynchronized with the angular position of the wheel assembly, thuscreating cyclical force with a “once per revolution” or first orderharmonic pattern.

Typically for high-end vehicles, wheel assemblies (including the tire)are calibrated using a wheel force balancing machine. This requires thetire to be mounted on a wheel, inserted into a machine that spins theassembly while under load in a way that is similar to the way it isloaded when the vehicle is traveling on the road (thus, loaded with thestatic force of the vehicle through the tire contact patch and the hub).The machine then measures the force exerted by the wheel assembly on thehub while it rotates, and determines the amount and position of anybalancing weights required to correct the imbalance. The technician willthen remove the wheel assembly from the machine, and attachcounterweights at the location indicated by the machine and in themagnitude indicated. In some cases, it also determines the optimalangular orientation of the tire with respect to the wheel, and the tirewill then be dismounted from the wheel by the technician and remountedin a different orientation to minimize the imbalance forces. The sameprocess can be performed while the vehicle is running if the vehicle isequipped with a force-sensing hub assembly.

In some embodiments, an angular position and magnitude of a forceimbalance may be determined by using the one or more sensors which mayinclude one or more accelerometers and/or angular position sensorsassociated with a wheel assembly. The position and size of one or moreweights to provide a balanced wheel may be determined by a vehiclecontrol system so that an imbalance may be corrected without having toremove the wheel from a vehicle. If the vehicle is equipped with anactive suspension system, the wheel imbalance may also be at leastpartially corrected by applying a force to the wheel in a directionsubstantially opposite the cyclical force applied to the vehicle body bythe wheel. Therefore, this may counterbalance the cyclical force causedby the imbalance and reduce disturbances input to the vehicle bodyduring operation. In order for the imbalance to be effectively reduced,or eliminated, the actuator of the wheel with the imbalance may apply asimilar force directed in an opposing direction to the force generatedby the imbalanced wheel during a corresponding time portion for eachrotation of the wheel. Accordingly, the frequency and magnitude of theapplied force will increase with increasing vehicle speed andcorrespondingly decrease with decreasing vehicle speed. Further, in someembodiments, a phase locked loop (PLL) may be used to properly time theapplication of the actuator force to reduce or cancel the centrifugalforce due to the wheel imbalance. Using a wheel angular position sensor,such as for example an anti-lock braking sensor, and a model of thewheel assembly as a mass on a spring, the cyclical nature of theimbalance force in one specific direction (for example, the verticaldirection as measured by a motion sensor oriented in the verticaldirection, or any direction as measured by a force-sensing hub assembly)may be determined and thus the underlying imbalance force vector'smagnitude and angular position as it rotates may be calculated. Using aPLL, the calculated imbalance force's angular position (or “phase”) maybe determined and averaged. Each of these will be heavily influenced bymotion induced by the road, but will average out to a value that will bedetectable if the imbalance force is of significant enough amplitude torise above the normal noise floor of the signal. In some embodimentsimbalance in the wheel force can also be cause by an imperfection in thetire construction.

An out of round wheel will typically show a pattern of motion thatappears more like a cyclical road imperfection, and as such has adifferent character from an imbalanced wheel. In many cases, an out ofround wheel may cause cyclical forces that have higher order harmoniccontent rather than just first order harmonics. This may enable adetection algorithm to monitor the forces on a wheel assembly to detectan out of round behavior, and treat it differently from a forceimbalance.

In some embodiments an active suspension system may be used to diagnosean imbalance or out of round condition on each tire without having toremove tires from the vehicle and create a force to at least partiallyand/or temporarily compensate for the imbalance and/or an out of roundwheel. This allows the vehicle to remain in operation, at leasttemporarily, without the normal discomfort and/or tire damage associatedwith imbalanced wheel assemblies, but at the same time the system maydiagnose the condition and warn vehicle operator to request service atthe next convenient time. In some embodiments, upon detection of a wheelimbalance and/or an out of round wheel, the system may indicate thecondition to a vehicle operator using an indicator, a signal, or anyother appropriate output observable to the operator. Additionally, thesystem may determine and output appropriate remedial actions to take forthe particular wheel to competent service personnel. For example, datamay be output to a hooked up diagnostic system and/or may be transmittedto a display viewable by the service personnel. The transmitted data mayinclude various parameters including, for example, what magnitude and/orangular position of counter weights may be used to remedy a wheelimbalance. The typical process of having to unmount and rebalance wheelsmay thus be avoided, and the process of rebalancing one or more vehiclewheels may be achieved more quickly and at lower cost. It should also benoted that the simple fact of cancelling the imbalance through the useof an active suspension force also automatically diagnoses the positionand magnitude of one or more counterweights.

In some embodiments, an autonomous vehicle equipped with an activesuspension system may self-diagnose malfunctions and/or abnormaloperation of one or more actuators by inducing one or more predeterminedexcitation motions to one or more portions of a vehicle. The activesuspension system and/or one or more sensors may then monitor theresulting response in the vehicle and/or one or more subsystems. Basedon this information the system may make a fault determination. In someembodiments, if such a fault determination is made, the system may:notify occupants and/or operators using an indicator, display, and/oruser interface; schedule a repair appointment with a repair facility;and/or remove the vehicle from service.

In one embodiment, the active suspension can continuously monitor thesystem's response transfer function without even inducing any additionalmotion other than what is being induced as part of the normal operationof the system. A system model may track the behavior of the actuator andall of its sensors, for example using a Kalman filter to estimate thesystem parameters and track their changes with time and environmentalfactors.

In another embodiment, the active suspension may be used to induce amotion that is too small to be detected by the occupants in the vehicle,but large enough to be detected by at least one or more sensors of asystem. The resulting motion may then be compared to a target motion.Taking into account all the other conditions present in the vehicle andactuator at the time, i.e. actuator performance, vehicle load, loaddistribution, temperature, and other appropriate parameters, the datafrom one or more sensors may be used to diagnose and/or predict possiblesystem faults. For example, in some embodiments the active suspensionsystem may be used to create a relatively high frequency motion, forexample at 40 Hz, every time a particular event happens, afterpredetermined time intervals, and/or after a request is received. Forexample, in one embodiment when a vehicle comes to a full stop a motionmay be excited in the vehicle using an active suspension system. Underthese conditions, and taking the system operating parameters intoaccount, the motion detected by one or multiple sensors may be comparedto the target or expected motion. One or more discrepancies between theexpected and actual output of one or more sensors may be used as a faultindicator or operation of at least a portion of the vehicle beyondacceptable tolerances. In some embodiments this information may be usedas a prognostics tool.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the activesuspension may be used in a diagnostic mode to move the suspensionthrough its full range of motion. This can be achieved even with anactive suspension of limited force capability by identifying theresonant frequency of the suspension. In a first step, a pattern ofmotion may be created. This may for example be a motion of only thefront of the vehicle, or a motion of only the rear of the vehicle, or amotion in the roll direction, or any other combination of motion. Thenin a second step this motion may be induced at a frequency below theexpected resonance of the system and at a small amplitude, and tomeasure the resulting motion by using one or more sensors present in thesystem. For example, one or more suspension position sensors may be usedfor this purpose. Then in a third step the frequency may be graduallyincreased to determine the frequency at which the motion is thegreatest. This frequency may be close to the resonant frequency of thesystem for that specific pattern of motion, and may be entirelydetermined by the system mass distribution and the compliances involvedin this motion. In a passenger vehicle, this may be determined by themain suspension springs, roll bars, and the vehicle's mass distribution.This may be used to determine any significant changes in spring behaviorand thus to diagnose the components, as long as the mass distribution isknown (for example, if the vehicle is empty and the amount of fuel inthe gas tank is known). The system may then be moved in the givenpattern at the frequency resulting in the highest output motion. Theamplitude of excitation may then be gradually increased until the outputno longer changes. This will indicate the full range of motion of thevehicle, and can be used to detect any mechanical interferences, and anyinconsistencies in the motion pattern that could be the result of sensorand/or actuator malfunction. This can then be repeated for multiplepatterns, to isolate functional problems to a single source ofinterference or malfunction.

In some embodiments, an active suspension may be used to actuate avehicle to excite other sensors in the vehicle. For example, the centralvehicle inertial measurement unit (IMU) that is present in many vehiclescan be calibrated and validated by using a known motion condition (suchas for example a predetermined motion while the vehicle is standingstill) and comparing the resulting sensor signal to the signals fromother sensors that correlate with this motion under those conditions.For example, when the vehicle is standing still (and thus there is noinput from the road or the driver), the motion sensed by the suspensionposition sensor should closely correlate with motion sensed on thevehicle body (at the IMU, or at any other acceleration sensors orposition sensors on the body). The motions detected by the suspensionposition sensors and body acceleration sensors may also correlate witheach other in a way that is consistent with their mounting location andorientation on the vehicle. This allows for example to detect any changein orientation of a given sensor, or any change in its mounting.

In some embodiments the above methods may be applied to autonomousvehicle sensors. In one embodiment, the vehicle could test its LIDAR,RADAR, LASER, and other position sensors while parked in a garage ornear an obstacle. Moving the vehicle using the active suspensionactuators would allow the vehicle to calculate an expected signal changefrom an outward looking sensor that detects an obstacle. If the changein the signal is inconsistent with the motion of the vehicle, amalfunction of the sensor may be detected. This is especially true ifthe malfunction is persistent, and if the sensor system is redundantenough to be able to eliminate any other causes of the inconsistency.For example, a LIDAR system could be correlated with a vision-basedsystem such as a camera. When moving the vehicle in a known manner, thetwo sensors may show a relative motion of a detected obstacle that isconsistent with each other. This test could be run in a controlledsetting, for example at a repair shop with a given lighting and a givenobstacle at a specified distance, but it could also be run on a regularbasis when the vehicle is parked in a safe location, with the propercaveats for ruling out “false positive” fault detection when the testvalidity is uncertain. In some embodiments, the test result could forexample be used to set an internal warning flag, and if this warningflag persists through multiple tests under multiple differentconditions, then it can be used to raise a flag for the vehicle to betested at a certified repair shop.

In some embodiments, energy needs for the active suspension system,taking into account regeneration, may be predicted along with availableenergy level, both of which may be used to determine an optimized ridequality that can be delivered on a given road for a particular trip.

In some embodiments, a vehicle equipped with an active suspension systemmay project electrical power needs of the system based on a plannedroute. Power needs may be calculated based on, for example, thetopography, road surface conditions, distance, elevation changes,historical data collected by the vehicle itself and/or by one or moreother vehicles, comfort and/or performance requirements that are ineffect, and auxiliary power requirements, such as for example HVAC basedon known external temperatures and a desired internal cabin temperature.Based on this information, the vehicle may allocate available energy forthe route ahead based on the projected energy needs and/or instantaneouspower requirements for some or the remainder of the trip. The projectionmay also take into account opportunities to refuel/recharge the vehicle.In some embodiments, the vehicle may communicate with arefueling/recharging station to reserve a refueling/recharging slottimed for the anticipated arrival of the vehicle. Additionally, thevehicle may use a password or other unique identification means, thatmay be assigned by the recharging/refueling facility, to gain access tothe station upon arrival. In some instances, the refueling/rechargingstation may include a station where at least a portion of the batterypack is replaced or supplemented.

In some embodiments, a trip energy usage plan may be developed thataccounts for the tradeoff between various parameters, such as, forexample, speed, route and lane selection, traffic conditions, availableon-board energy, refueling/recharging opportunities, energy regenerationpotential of the suspension or braking systems, comfort settings, andmotion sickness avoidance requirements.

In some embodiments, a selection of routes based on such criteria may bepresented to vehicle occupants so they may choose. The vehicle oroccupants may opt to take a route that conserves the most energy. Forexample, an energy conserving route would constitute selecting a routebased, at least partially, on the amount of energy required by theactive suspension system to prevent occupant discomfort or to compensatefor road conditions as well as the expected energy consumption fordriving a vehicle through that route. The energy requirements needed fora particular driving route may be calculated in any number of ways usingparameters such as expected vehicle speed, travel distance, elevationchanges along the route, road conditions, energy requirements foroperating a suspension system of the vehicle along the expected roadconditions in one or more operating modes, as well as any otherappropriate parameter. Similar to the above noted embodiments, thisinformation may either be stored locally on the vehicle or may bewirelessly transmitted to the vehicle from a remotely located serverand/or database for subsequent use in estimating the desiredinformation. During range-critical trips (e.g. trips involvingadditional charging stops) and/or time-sensitive trip deadlines, energyrationing may be implemented on one or more a vehicle's system to reduceenergy consumption and ensure sufficient energy is available for adesired trip, or portion of a trip. For example, in instances wherethere is insufficient energy to complete a trip while providing fullmotion sickness suppression, the vehicle may be operated in a mode wherethe suspension system provides a reduced motion sickness mitigationmode. In another embodiment, if an autonomous vehicle is travellingempty, for example while the vehicle is on the way to pick up a loadand/or passengers, the vehicle may relax or disable suspension controlalgorithms intended to increase passenger comfort in order to conserveenergy.

In conventionally driven vehicles, active suspension actuators may beused to improve road feel and steering response for the driver, as wellas to improve comfort for all occupants. Frequently, these two sets ofdemands are in conflict. Specifically, performance characteristics ofsuspension systems that make the vehicle more responsive and enjoyableto drive often conflict with requirements that provide a comfortableride for passengers. For example, suppressing road induced motion in avehicle at low frequencies, such as frequencies below 1 Hz, may increasepassenger comfort by, for example, reducing the likelihood of theoccurrence of motion sickness. However, in conventionally drivenvehicles, if the vehicle does not respond to road input at these lowfrequencies, the vehicle's steering may appear disconnected from theroad. This behavior may be quite disturbing for a driver. In certainembodiments where a vehicle may periodically be driven but sometimesoperated autonomously, low frequencies, such as less than 1 Hz or lessthan 0.5 Hz, may be suppressed to a greater degree in an autonomous modethan when the vehicle is operated in a conventionally driven mode.

In one embodiment, an autonomous vehicle includes an active suspensionsystem that includes at least one actuator and a vehicle control systemthat operates the vehicle in an autonomous state and in a conventionallydriven state. In the autonomous state, the active suspension system maybe operated in a first mode where the active suspension system may notgive as much weighting to road feel and drivability requirements and mayfocus instead on increased passenger comfort and passenger experience.When the vehicle is operated in the conventionally driven state theactive suspension system may be operated in a second mode where theactive suspension system may provide the driver with a desired level ofroad feel and drivability. In addition to the above, in the first modethe transmissibility of road disturbances between a road and a structurein the vehicle is less than the transmissibility of road disturbancesbetween the road and the structure for a first frequency rangeassociated with motion sickness such as between 0.05 Hz and 10 Hz.

In another embodiment, an autonomous vehicle, may selectively operate inan autonomous state and a conventionally driven state. The autonomousvehicle may include both a first structure and a second structure whichmay correspond to one or more different portions of the vehicle. Therelative motion between the first structure and the wheels may becontrolled by a first suspension system. Similarly, the relative motionbetween the first and second structures may controlled by a secondsuspension system. In some embodiments, one or more of the first and thesecond suspension systems may be active suspension systems.

Vehicles may be exclusively conventionally driven vehicles, autonomousvehicles or multi-modal vehicles. Multi-modal vehicles may selectivelyoperate as conventionally driven (with a driver) vehicles in certainmodes and as autonomous vehicles in other modes. Some vehicles mayoperate as primarily conventionally driven vehicles with various degreesof driver assist or as primarily autonomous vehicles with variousdegrees of driver intervention.

In embodiments, an electronically controlled suspension on a vehicle hasdifferent operating modes for human drive and autonomous operation,wherein the vehicle may switch between suspension operation modes whenthe vehicle switches between human driver and autonomous operation. Inembodiments, an occupant in the vehicle may select between human driverand autonomous operation, and the vehicle may alter the control mode ofthe electronic suspension automatically. In embodiments, the electronicsuspension may be either a semi-active suspension or a fully-activesuspension. In embodiments, operating modes may comprise of differentalgorithms, different parameter settings, and/or other modifications tothe control system for the electronic suspension. For example, an activesuspension system may reduce motion transferred to at least one portionof the vehicle from road disturbances to a greater degree in one or morefrequency ranges, such as those associated with motion sickness, whenoperated in an autonomous driving mode then when the vehicle is operatedin a conventionally driven mode.

In some embodiments, when an autonomous vehicle is operated in aconventionally driven mode, the active suspension system may maintain anegative to zero vehicle roll during some or all turns. Negative roll isdefined as a roll away from the center of rotation that normally occursin conventional vehicles as a result of centrifugal forces. Positiveroll is defined as a roll in the opposite direction, i.e. into a turnand towards the center of the turn. A negative to zero roll is typicallypreferred by drivers of a vehicle. However, in an autonomous mode,passengers may prefer a positive roll in some or all turns. Therefore,during autonomous operation, an active suspension system may maintainthe vehicle body in a zero to positive roll. This switch between the twomodes may occur, for example, automatically as a result of sensory inputindicative of the switch from conventionally driven to autonomousoperation, or as a result of a command or signal from a vehicle operatoror occupant.

In addition to the above, the inventors have appreciated that eyemovement caused by a person's visual ocular reflex (VOR) may lead tomotion sickness when an occupant of a vehicle in motion is reading orfocused on an image or object in a vehicle. This may be caused bydisparity between the shift in the focal point of a reader's eyes as aresult of VOR and the actual position of the text, image or object thatis being focused on. The VOR adjusts the focal point based on theassumption that the object being focused on, such as a computer screen,or other display, is inertially fixed. However, in a moving car, this istypically not true. Therefore, in one embodiment, an image on displaywithin a vehicle may be moved in a manner that at least partiallynegates the retinal slip occurring in the eyes of a vehicle occupant whois reading from, or watching a video on, the display.

In some embodiments, this conflict between the position of an image on adisplay and the changes in an occupant's focal point due to VOR may bealleviated by reducing the movement of a vehicle body in the frequencyrange between 1 Hz and 10 Hz. Additionally or alternatively, themovement of a one or more sub-portions of a vehicle and/or a passengercompartment of the vehicle may be mitigated in this frequency range aswell. For example, a seat, a desk, and/or work surface may include asuspension system that mitigates motions of these structures within thisfrequency range.

In addition to the above, and as shown in FIG. 30 , in one embodiment,an image on a display 580, such as on a computer or interface screen,may be moved by a distance D to at least partially compensate for anexpected VOR of an occupant which may help to mitigate the likelihood ofmotion sickness in the occupant. For example, a display controller 582may determine the amount of movement D anticipated for an occupantsfocal point at a given frequency due to the expected VOR of a vehicleoccupant by, for example, using a transfer function between headmovement and vehicle movement that may be either empirically orstatistically determined.

The movement of the image may also be determined by, for example,determining a transfer function between the imaged movement in theinertial space and the movement of the vehicle. The system creating theimage may then be used to induce motion in the image that compensatesfor the disparity in the anticipated position of the image as a resultof the VOR and motion induced by the vehicle. For example, in the caseof text on a computer screen, the image may be moved to mitigate thedisparity between the anticipated and actual position of the text withina particular frequency range.

Due to an occupant's vision typically being able to compensate formovements below about 1 Hz, in some embodiments, an image displayed on adisplay may only be moved to compensate for motions with a frequencyrange between or equal to about 1 Hz and 10 Hz, 2 Hz and 10 Hz, or anyother appropriate frequency range including ranges both greater than andless than those noted above as the disclosure is not so limited.

In some embodiments, a synthesized image may be projected within theinterior of a vehicle and made visible to occupants to provide areference point that may minimize discomfort, such as, motion sicknessor disorientation. For example, a synthesized image or reference framemay be a realistic looking image displayed to vehicle occupants to alteroccupant perception of external surroundings and vehicle motion. Forexample, a synthesized horizon may be projected onto a surface ordisplay within the vehicle. The horizon projected onto, or otherwisedisplayed on, a surface may be moved relative to the surface to trackactual movements of the car and provide a reference of movement tooccupants within the vehicle.

In some embodiments, a trip summary may be provided via a smart phoneapp to show benefits of an active suspension system. In some embodimentsitems that may be included in the trip summary are for example: totalsuspension travel, driver aggressiveness, road roughness profile, routedriven on a map display, energy

In some embodiments, a map may display road roughness on the recenttrip. In some embodiments, the benefits of using an active suspensionsystem on the recorded route may be calculated and displayed by thesystem. The benefits may be calculated, for example, by using theweighting factors described in in ISO standard 2631-1 published in 1997.

In yet another embodiment, sensors may be used to detect an imminent orpossible crash or accident. This may be done by comparing the projectedtrajectories of the vehicle as well as surrounding objects,obstructions, and/or other vehicles. If there is a sufficiently highlikelihood such as a percentage probability greater than a thresholdpercentage, actions may be taken to prepare the vehicle and occupantsfor a crash in order to mitigate the effect of such an occurrence onvehicle occupants. For example, seats may be repositioned relative tothe identified or expected impact vectors and the locations ofin-vehicle airbags. Certain airbags and safety devices may be armedand/or deployed, while others that are not properly aligned with one ormore occupants may be disabled to avoid unnecessary deployment orunwanted deployment. For example, an airbag adjacent to an unoccupiedseat and/or an airbag that an occupant is improperly oriented towardsmay be disabled. In some embodiments, vehicle airbags may be deployedpre-crash so that force and velocity of deployment may be reducedrelative to airbags that are deployed after a vehicle startsdecelerating after contact is made in a crash. The timing of deploymentmay be determined using the expected time of the crash determined usingthe intersecting travel vectors as well as a time for deploying the oneor more airbags.

In some embodiments, each occupied seat within the vehicle, depending onits position, may orient, secure and lock in a way that minimizes theeffects of an impact upon the occupants. For example, the seats may beoriented towards and locked in the closest forward or rearward facingdirection relative to the vehicles direction of travel. Sharp objects orhard surfaces may be retracted and/or airbags or other safety devicesmay be repositioned. Therefore, in the event that vehicle sensors detectthat a crash or accident is imminent, one or more components that couldcome into contact with a vehicle occupant may be placed in an accidentmode. In such an operation mode, such components may be retracted ormoved out of the way to avoid injury. The rate and/or degree ofdeployment of safety devices such as, for example, air bags, may also beadjusted to account for the severity of the anticipated impact.

In some embodiments, if vehicle sensors detect that a crash or accidentis imminent, occupants may also be notified to brace for impact or toassume a particular position or to fasten seatbelts. Occupants may bemade aware of such procedures at the beginning of a ride or when a newpassenger enters the vehicle. The methods by which occupants can bracethemselves for an impact that will provide the best chance of promotingpassenger safety may be explained automatically to any new occupant bymeans of a video presentation. Such instruction may be disabled if thesystem recognizes that all passengers have already received instructionor if requested to do so by one or more occupants. If a systems detectsthe presence of a child seat or young children in the vehicle, specialinstructions may be given. The system may also test if a child seat isproperly secured and notify occupants if an unsafe condition exists.

FIG. 31 illustrates one embodiment an autonomous vehicle 670 thatimplements the above noted methods and features. In the embodiment, thevehicle includes four passenger seats 671 a-671 d, a work surface 672,air bags 673 a-673 h and work surface embedded air bags 674 a-674 d. Ifthe vehicle is moving in a direction A and is about to collide with anobject, the autonomous vehicle system may align the seats so that theyare facing in the closest forward or backward direction and lock theminto position before the collision. Alternatively, if there issufficient time, the seats may be adjusted to the most advantageousposition for effect of the impact vector, e.g. the seats may be orientedtowards or away from the expected motion from the crash. Simultaneouslycertain airbags may be armed to deploy and certain air bags may bedisabled. For example if seats 671 a and 671 c are occupied andpositioned as shown, only airbag 674 d would be armed and the remainingairbags may be disarmed.

In addition to using active suspension systems to mitigate motionsickness during vehicle operation, the inventors have recognized thatone or more active suspension systems located within an operational roadvehicle may also be used to create a more realistic environment for amultimedia experience depicted on a display integrated with, locatedwithin, and/or displayed adjacent to the vehicle. For example, such amethod may be used for playing video games, observing movies, and/orenhancing a video reality experience.

In one embodiment, a vehicle, equipped with one or more sensors, may beused to record road-induced effects in a vehicle. These recorded effectsmay include, for example, wheel (unsprung mass) motions and/or vehiclebody (sprung mass) motions which may include roll, pitch and/or heave.The recorded information may include relative displacement between oneor more wheels or wheel assemblies and one or more points on the vehiclebody. The recorded effects may include velocity and/or acceleration ofone or more points on the vehicle and/or a wheel assembly. The vehicleused for collecting the data may be equipped with, for example, apassive suspension system, a semi-active suspension system, or an activesuspension system. Road-induced effects may include any displacement,velocity or acceleration experienced by a vehicle body (sprung mass) orwheel assembly (unsprung mass) as a result of traveling on a road orother driving surface.

A different vehicle equipped with an active suspension system maysubsequently be used to at least partially replicate the recordeddriving-induced effects while the vehicle is parked or stopped eitherindoors or outdoors. For example, the active suspension system of aparked vehicle may induce motion in one or more portions of a vehiclebody to simulate the motion previously recorded by the same vehicle orby another vehicle while traveling on a road or other surface. In someinstances, the motion of the parked vehicle may be modified bymitigating some recorded road-induced effects or by artificially addingto them.

Various pre-recorded road-induced effects, such as for example, vehicleroll, pitch and/or heave may be replicated by using an active suspensionsystem. Such replication may be considered “playback” of thepre-recorded road-induced effects. Additionally or alternatively,pre-recorded road-induced accelerations such as fore-aft and lateralaccelerations may be replicated by using platforms or other supportmechanisms that may support and move the vehicle in those directions.Within the constraints of the active suspension, the active suspensionmay also induce the sensation of certain lateral and fore/aftaccelerations by pitching or rolling the vehicle. During this process,the road-induced effects may be replicated in a parked or stoppedvehicle to match the pre-recorded effects.

In some embodiments, the active suspension system may duplicate therecorded roll, pitch and/or heave precisely. In some embodiments,precise replication may mean replication of a pre-recorded road-inducedquantity, such as for example, vehicle body or wheel: displacement,velocity, acceleration, or jerk, or vehicle: roll, pitch, heave, rollrate, pitch rate, roll acceleration, pitch acceleration, with an errorrange of less than or equal to about 1%, 5%, 10%, or any otherappropriate percentage of the recorded motion.

In some embodiments, displacement or force that would need to be appliedby one or more of the active suspension actuators in order to replicatecertain pre-recorded effects may be beyond the capability of one or morecomponents of the active suspension system. It also may be determinedthat the degree of replication of road-induced motion should be limitedfor other reasons as well. In such cases, the pre-recorded data may bepre-filtered to limit actuator motion or force commands to be withinpredefined threshold limits. For example in some embodiments, themaximum active force and/or the maximum displacement command sent to anactuator controller may be limited to a desired threshold in compressionand/or extension. Therefore, in some embodiments, where the pre-recordeddata is pre-filtered to limit one or more quantities that are beingreplicated, the quantity may simply be clipped when it reaches a certainthreshold value. Alternatively, a rate of change of the quantity may betransitioned to avoid discontinuities of slope that would introduceartificial high frequency excitations to the system. For example, replaycommands may be limited so that an actuator does not strike hardphysical stops, but slows gradually as it approaches the ends of itscompression and/or extension strokes. The word “gradually” may includestaying within a predetermined threshold of the rate of change of thequantity while the desired force and/or distance quantity is kept withinits threshold as well.

When implementing the above noted methods, in some embodiments, duringmotion replay a power or energy consumption of one or more actuators maybe limited by one or more controllers to a predetermined maximum value.For example, the energy consumption of one or more actuators may belimited to avoid overheating components of the system. In someembodiments, other sensors such as temperature sensors may be used asfeedback mechanisms to limit the actuator output as well to again avoidexceeding a threshold temperature of the systems.

FIG. 32 illustrates a functional block diagram for an embodiment of asystem for road data collection, pre-filtering, and replay. Vehicle 701is equipped with one or more sensors 702, such as, for example, aninertial motion unit (IMU), accelerometers, and/or displacement sensors.The data from the sensor(s), if in analog form, may be digitized by adata acquisition system 703.

The capacity of any actuator of an active suspension system is neverunlimited. For example, the range of travel and force output of anactive suspension actuator is typically capped below either anoperational and/or physical threshold. Therefore, the segment of datacollected by the instrumented vehicle 701 that is to be replicated maybe pre-filtered by a pre-filter 704 to remove aspects of the data thatare beyond a threshold capability of one or more actuator(s) 709 of thevehicle. The pre-filtered data may be stored in a database 705 where itmay be accessed by an active suppression system controller or vehiclecontroller 706 of second vehicle 707. The second vehicle 707 may eitherbe the same vehicle, or a different vehicle, from vehicle 701 that wasused to collect the road data.

The data accessed by controller 706 is converted into a series of forcecommands and supplied to the corner controllers 708 associated with theseparate actuators of the active suspension system at regular timesteps. When these force commands are implemented using the fouractuators 709, the road-induced effects (after pre-filtering) arereplicated. In this embodiment, each actuator is connected to one wheelassembly of the vehicle. In some embodiments, one or more wheelassemblies may not be attached to an actuator and/or a single wheelassembly may be attached to multiple actuators.

In some embodiments, when road-induced effects are replicated, a vehiclewith an active suspension system may be used as a platform forconducting motion sickness tests. Road-induced motion may be replicatedin a parked vehicle and one or more test subjects sitting in the vehiclemay be exposed to the motion. For example, the vehicle may be used as atestbed to test motion sickness control algorithms under repeatableconditions. In some embodiments, test subjects during motion sicknesstests may be requested to perform certain tasks such as, for example,reading from a book, a typed page, a computer or a smart phone. In someembodiments, during the test, the reading material may be secured to thevehicle or otherwise made to move with the vehicle. Alternatively, thereading material may be held by the test subject or moved in a manner toat least partially compensate for vestibular ocular reflex (VOR).

FIG. 33 illustrates a block diagram of a control loop 710 implemented bya controller reacting to replay “road input” transmitted to thecontroller during playback. In addition, the controller also mayimplement motion mitigation algorithms at the same time to reduce motioninduced by the “road input” on the vehicle. In some embodiments, theroad playback isn't pre-filtered in order to mitigate the amount ofmotion. Rather, the actuator controller acts in real time on thesimulated road input induced motion in order to reject the inputdisturbance and control the body in the desired manner as if the vehiclewas traveling on a road. The controller may implement a control schemesimilar to that detailed in FIG. 11 above. Therefore, the road (i.e.pre-filtered force commands) imparts some disturbance to the vehiclesystem. This disturbance is measured with onboard sensors and ismitigated with the feedback through the controller in order to achievethe desired mitigated force command.

FIG. 34 shows a comparison of the mitigated versus unmitigated frequencyspectra for different types of motion including front heave motion 720,rear heave motion 721, and roll motion of a vehicle. As shown in thegraphs, energy in the 0.3 Hz-2 Hz range is mitigated in the front heavespectrum. However, for rear heave motion, the mitigation is in the 0.3Hz-6 Hz range. Further, mitigation in the roll spectrum is in the 0.3Hz-10 Hz range. Of course different motion mitigation performance indifferent frequency ranges for different suspension systems and/or modesof operation are also contemplated.

In some embodiments, the active suspension system of a vehicle may beused to induce certain vehicle body and/or wheel motions using eitherpredetermined and/or pre-recorded motions while the vehicle is operatingat one or more speeds on a vehicle dynamometer. In this way, the effectof vehicle body movement may be studied while the vehicle powertrain isoperating at various speeds. Similarly, in some embodiments,pre-recorded road-induced and/or artificially generated vehicle bodyand/or wheel motion may be generated in a climate chamber for additionalstudies as well.

In some embodiments, certain motions may also be induced in a vehiclebody or a portion of a vehicle with an active suspension system toproduce motion that will “rock” a baby to sleep.

In addition to replicating motion, in some embodiments, an activesuspension system of a vehicle may be used to induce certain vehiclebody and/or wheel motions when the vehicle is parked, for example, in aparking lot, garage, or at another convenient location. These motionsmay be at least partially synchronized with at least one aspect of avideo being observed by one or more occupants of the vehicle. Video maybe displayed on displays, for example, attached to the dashboard, seatback, and/or any other location in the vehicle. Alternatively a displaymay correspond to a display placed on a surface in the vehicle and/or ispart of a virtual reality headset, such as for example, an Oculus Riftdevice. In some embodiments, the system may be integrated into or usedwith an electric vehicle, wherein electric power may be provided withoutoperating an engine.

The at least partial synchronization of the video with vehicle bodymovements may be based on a motion track provided, for example, by theproducer of the video or a third party. In some embodiments, informationused during playback may be at least partially generated by using avehicle with active suspension. The vehicle motion may be generated by aperson using an interface such as, for example, a joystick, a keyboard,or a touch sensitive computer screen for controlling the activesuspension system. Vehicle motion may be generated by such a personwhile watching a video. Motions commanded by such a person may berecorded for later playback. During playback, the active suspensionsystem of a vehicle may be used to cause the vehicle to move in similarfashion and relative timing with the video being displayed.

In some embodiments, the active suspension system may be used to inducecertain motions in a vehicle to enhance the occupants' experience whilelistening to music, watching a video or playing a video game in avehicle. These motions may be induced in response to a pre-recordedmotion track accompanying an audio and/or video recording. They may alsobe in response to commands given by one or more players of the videogame in the vehicle using one or more controller inputs.

In some embodiments the vehicle may be made to respond to music bysimulating dancing motions or producing sound that mimics a subwooferusing one or more active suspension systems of the vehicle.

FIG. 43 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment where an activesuspension system 960 is used to cause a vehicle to perform as asubwoofer of a music system. Audio source 961 produces an electronicaudio signal that is received by filter 962 which acts as a low passfilter and provides the low frequency content of the audio signal to theactive suspension system. In this embodiment, the active suspensionsystem produces low frequency vibration in the vehicle body in responseto this filtered audio signal by using one or more suspension systemactuators. An active suspension control may operate the activesuspension to induce motion in the vehicle to produce these audiblevibrations may be produced while the vehicle is stopped and/or while thevehicle is traveling over a road where the active suspension systemcontrols vehicle motion as well as performing the function of asubwoofer. In the embodiment in FIG. 43 , the filtered audio signalinput into the active suspension controller and played through theactive suspension system may augment low frequency vibrations to producean increased level of low frequency sound. In some embodiments, the lowfrequency content of the audio signal provided to the active suspensionsystem may be less than or equal to about 300 Hz, 200 Hz, 100 Hz, 80 Hz,60 Hz, 50 Hz, or any other appropriate frequency. Correspondingly, thefrequency input to the active suspension system controller may begreater than or equal to about 10 Hz, 20 Hz, 30 Hz, 40 Hz, or any otherappropriate frequency. Combinations of the above ranges are contemplatedincluding a low frequency range played through the active suspensionsystem ranging from about 10 Hz and 300 Hz and 10 Hz to 80 Hz. Ofcourse, frequencies both higher and lower than those noted above,including sub audible frequencies may also be used as the disclosure isnot so limited.

In some embodiments, vehicle movement may be choreographed with videogame (such as for example one that involves car racing). The movementsmay be synchronized with video being observed on a virtual realitydevice such as, for example, the Oculus Rift.

The user interface used to interact with the active suspension systemmay include, for example, a joystick, a keyboard, leap motion sensor, ora computer touch screen. Alternatively, some of the control devices mayinclude one or more of the vehicle's controls such as the steeringwheel, brake, throttle, and/or horn may also be used as inputs tocommunicate commands to the video game. In some embodiments, whenvarious control devices of the vehicle, such as for example, thesteering wheel, are used as an interface for the video game, theirnormal functions may be disabled. In some embodiments, other devices ofthe vehicle may be used as outputs to provide additional feedback to thevideo gamer. For example, air vents or the HVAC system may be activatedto blow air in synchrony with actions in the video game. Alternativelyor additionally, the air conditioning or heating system may be turned onto more closely simulate the game environment.

In an embodiment, a video game that includes a vehicle in a virtualworld (for example, a car, spaceship, airplane, truck, motorcycle, etc.)may use the active suspension of a real operational vehicle to simulatea motion of the simulated vehicle in the virtual world. The personplaying the game may utilize a user interface, which may include thecontrols of the physical vehicle the active suspension is installed on(for example, the steering wheel, brakes, throttle), to cause thevirtual world vehicle to turn, accelerate, or perform another maneuver.The right side and/or left side actuators, for example, may then be usedto tip the car in a manner that would be expected from the maneuver. Forexample, if the person playing the video game commands the vehicle toswerve to the left, the actuators may be used to tip the car to theright to a degree that corresponds with the speed of the simulatedvehicle navigating a turn.

In some embodiments, vehicle movement may by induced by a controller ofthe active suspension system operating an active suspension in responseto a variety of inputs from the virtual reality game, including forexample: road surface condition including roughness, virtual vehicleaccelerations (roll, pitch, heave), virtual vehicle RPM's, virtualvehicle gear positions, game sounds, and virtual vehiclehealth/condition.

In some embodiments, an active suspension system may be made to move inresponse to music rhythm (real-time algorithm such as for exampleWinamp). Algorithms may analyze raw audio data in real time to generatevehicle movements. In some embodiments an active suspension system maybe used to “visualize” music.

FIG. 44 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a parked vehicle980 with an active suspension system that includes active suspensionactuators 981 and a suite of sensors 982. A virtual reality computer 983may be used to produce video and/or sound that can be viewed and/orheard by using a virtual reality device 984. Simultaneously, the virtualreality controller may cause the motion translation engine 984 toprovide kinematic commands to one or more actuators of the vehiclecausing it to move in a coordinated fashion with what is being viewedand/or heard by the user of the virtual reality device.

Sensors in the vehicle may be used to receive commands from one or morevehicle occupants. In response to these commands, one or more sensorsmay provide game inputs to the motion translation engine that in turnprovides motion commands to the virtual reality computer which may alterwhat is being viewed and/or heard by the user of the virtual realitydevice.

FIG. 35 illustrates the rear view 731 of a vehicle seat 730 in a vehiclethat includes a video display 732. Being shown on the video display is avideo scene with an image of a vehicle 733 being approached by arhinoceros 734.

FIG. 36 illustrates the seat 730 of FIG. 4 after the position of thevehicle has been altered in response to what is being shown on the videodisplay. The scene being shown on the video display has changed from thescene in FIG. 4 . Here the rhinoceros 734 has struck the vehicle withsuch force as to cause the vehicle 733 to lurch to the left. As aresult, the active suspension system of the vehicle simultaneously hastipped the vehicle, by applying a roll motion to the vehicle, in whichthe video is being watched, to the left, creating the illusion that thereal vehicle was struck by a rhinoceros as was the vehicle 733 in thevideo. The active suspension system may time the tipping motion, of thereal vehicle, based on a motion track provided with the video orotherwise previously generated while watching the video in the vehicle.

In a somewhat related embodiment, video may be recorded of a vehicle'ssurroundings while road effects data is being collected. In this way,during replay of road-induced motion in a parked vehicle, a person inthe car may also watch the video of the road where the road effects datawas obtained. For example, a vehicle may be used to record effectsinduced in the vehicle while it is traveling over cobblestones.

In this manner, a vehicle with an active suspension system may be usedto demonstrate the effectiveness of the system in mitigatingroad-induced motion. For example, in a dealership showroom, a potentialcustomer may sit in a vehicle when motion induced in the vehicle whiletraveling over cobblestones, or another road surface, is replicated. Theinduced motion may then be mitigated by using certain actuator controlalgorithms as described herein. This experience may be made moreeffective by showing a video of traveling over cobblestone road duringboth the mitigated and unmitigated cases.

In some embodiments, the controller of an active or semi-activesuspension system may be used to cause the active or semi-activesuspension to mimic a passive suspension system. In FIG. 46 , curve 970shows the force/velocity relationship of a passive automotive damperduring compression, while curve 971 shows the force/velocityrelationship during extension. As can be observed, both of these curvesare single value functions and the difference in the two curves istypically caused by hysteresis. Curve 972 in FIG. 45 illustrates atypical force/velocity behavior of an embodiment of an active suspensionsystem where the active suspension system is seen to achieve an almostunlimited combination of force and velocity. Because of this ability,the controller of an active suspension system or that of a semi-activesuspension system (not shown) can cause those systems to replicate theforce/velocity profiles of curves 970 and 971. The active suspensionsystem may also be commanded to compensate for differences in the springconstant of the springs in the suspension system. Mimicking theperformance of a passive suspension system may be used as a marketingtool during, for example, demonstration rides for potential customers ata vehicle dealership. In this manner, a salesman could easilydemonstrate the benefits of an active suspension system using a userinterface to switch back and forth between active and passive suspensionperformance for the benefit of the customers.

In some embodiments of an active suspension system, a human machineinterface (HMI) may be used to provide increased information to vehicleoccupants about the performance of an active suspension system, eitherwhen the vehicle is stopped or when the vehicle is traveling over aroad. Additionally or alternatively, the HMI may be used to selectvarious modes of operation of the active suspension system.

FIG. 47 illustrates an embodiment of an HMI 990 which includes roadcontour indicator 991, mode selection 992, motion cue selection 993, andpresets selector 994.

Sensors 995 may be used to measure suspension system 996 performanceand/or road disturbance information and providing that information tothe HMI controller. In some embodiments, the HMI controller may thendisplay the motion of the car on the HMI display by, for example, usingan avatar to represent the vehicle. Road interaction may be illustratedby representing contours that approximate the motion induced in thevehicle's wheels as a result of traveling over the road. The differencebetween the vehicle motion and the road-induced motion of the vehiclewheels may be shown on the HMI display to illustrate the effectivenessof the active suspension system. The system user 997 may also use theHMI to select vehicle modes that control the behavior of the activesuspension system. For example, the user may select a comfort mode wherethe active suspension system to produce a smooth ride similar to whatwould be experienced in a large luxury sedan. Alternatively, the usermay select a sports car mode where the vehicle more closely hugs theroad and follows its vertical movement. The user may also select motioncues that the vehicle can provide, for example during turns and othermaneuvers as previously discussed. The vehicle may also use the HMI toselect presets for various functions, such as gestures that the vehiclewill provide, for example, to greet the owner on the first encounter ofthe day, to indicate when the car is locked, and to respond to variouscommands.

EXAMPLE: MOTION SICKNESS TESTING

Motion sickness testing was conducted by using an active suspensionsystem of a vehicle to replicate motion recorded from a vehicle drivenaround the Boston Massachusetts area under various traffic conditionsusing a semi-active suspension system. For the tests, a continuoussegment of road data spanning 500 seconds was selected for replay in thelaboratory using the active suspension system of a vehicle as detailedabove. During testing, test subjects read text from a mobile computingdevice, such as an iPhone, while seated in a vehicle “replaying” therecorded motion for a total of 30 minutes after which they were asked torate their level of motion sickness from a zero (i.e. no motionsickness) to 10 (i.e. vomiting, retching, and/or dry heaves). Testingwas subsequently repeated using the same recorded motions from thesemi-active suspension system. However, motion mitigation strategiesusing the active suspension system as described herein were implemented.Specifically, the active suspension system reduced vehicle motionswithin the 0.2 Hz to 10 Hz range, see FIG. 34 previously discussed aboveillustrating the frequency domain comparisons of the PSD of differentmotions for both the mitigated and unmitigated motions. Of those testsubjects who experienced motion sickness during the unmitigated tests,67% showed no signs of motion sickness during the mitigated motiontests. The remaining 33% of individuals experienced motion sicknessduring the initial tests reported significant reductions in the rate andseverity of the experienced motion sickness.

By using these techniques, the inventors have realized that reducingvehicle roll, pitch and/or heave in certain frequencies outside of thosetypically associated with motion sickness may greatly reduce motionsickness symptoms within a vehicle. Therefore, as detailed above, insome embodiments, one or more suspension system of a vehicle may be usedto negate motions in one or more frequency ranges between 0.05 Hz to 10Hz, 0.2 Hz to 10 Hz, 0.5 Hz to 10 Hz, 1 Hz to 10 Hz, or any otherappropriate frequency range to reduce motion sickness of a vehicleoccupant.

The above-described embodiments of the technology described herein canbe implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, the embodiments maybe implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, the software code can be executed on anysuitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in asingle computing device or distributed among multiple computing devices.Such processors may be implemented as integrated circuits, with one ormore processors in an integrated circuit component, includingcommercially available integrated circuit components known in the art bynames such as CPU chips, GPU chips, microprocessor, microcontroller, orco-processor. Alternatively, a processor may be implemented in customcircuitry, such as an ASIC, or semicustom circuitry resulting fromconfiguring a programmable logic device. As yet a further alternative, aprocessor may be a portion of a larger circuit or semiconductor device,whether commercially available, semi-custom or custom. As a specificexample, some commercially available microprocessors have multiple coressuch that one or a subset of those cores may constitute a processor.Though, a processor may be implemented using circuitry in any suitableformat.

Further, it should be appreciated that a computing device may beembodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally,a computing device may be embedded in a device not generally regarded asa computing device but with suitable processing capabilities, includinga Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitableportable or fixed electronic device.

Also, a computing device may have one or more input and output devices.These devices can be used, among other things, to present a userinterface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a userinterface include printers or display screens for visual presentation ofoutput and speakers or other sound generating devices for audiblepresentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for auser interface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice,touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computingdevice may receive input information through speech recognition or inother audible format.

Such computing devices may be interconnected by one or more networks inany suitable form, including as a local area network or a wide areanetwork, such as an enterprise network or the Internet. Such networksmay be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to anysuitable protocol and may include wireless networks, wired networks orfiber optic networks.

Also, the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, the disclosed embodiments may be embodied as a computerreadable storage medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., acomputer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs (CD), opticaldiscs, digital video disks (DVD), magnetic tapes, flash memories,circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or othersemiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium)encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or morecomputers or other processors, perform methods that implement thevarious embodiments of the invention discussed above. As is apparentfrom the foregoing examples, a computer readable storage medium mayretain information for a sufficient time to provide computer-executableinstructions in a non-transitory form. Such a computer readable storagemedium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programsstored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers orother processors to implement various aspects of the present inventionas discussed above. As used herein, the term “computer-readable storagemedium” encompasses only a non-transitory computer-readable medium thatcan be considered to be a manufacture (i.e., article of manufacture) ora machine. Alternatively or additionally, the invention may be embodiedas a computer readable medium other than a computer-readable storagemedium, such as a propagating signal.

The terms “program”, “software”, “code”, or similar term are used hereinin a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set ofcomputer-executable instructions that can be employed to program acomputing device or other processor to implement various aspects of thepresent invention as discussed above. Additionally, it should beappreciated that according to one aspect of this embodiment, one or morecomputer programs that when executed perform methods of the presentinvention need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may bedistributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computersor processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconveys relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

While the present teachings have been described in conjunction withvarious embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the presentteachings be limited to such embodiments or examples. On the contrary,the present teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, andequivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way ofexample only.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a vehicle thatincludes an active suspension system, the method comprising: playing avideo within the vehicle; operating at least one actuator of the activesuspension system to induce motion in at least a portion of the vehicle,wherein at least one aspect of the induced motion is synchronized withthe video.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the induced motion issynchronized with one aspect of the video while the vehicle is parked.3. The method of claim 1, wherein playing the video includes displayinga video image from at least one of a video game and a movie.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein playing the video includes displaying thevideo on a display located in the vehicle.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the display is a virtual reality device.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising receiving user commands from the vehicle thatcontrol at least one aspect of the video.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the induced motion is applied at least partially in response tothe user commands.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of asteering wheel, brake, throttle, and horn of the vehicle is used toprovide the user commands.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprisingdisabling a normal operation of at least one of the steering wheel,brake, throttle, and horn.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theinduced motion includes at least one of pitch, heave, and roll.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising operating at least one vehiclesubsystem at least partially in response to at least one aspect of thevideo.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one vehiclesubsystem comprises at least one of a vehicular climate control system,an occupant seat positioning system, and an electric power steeringsystem.